performance
Americannoun
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a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience.
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the act of performing a ceremony, play, piece of music, etc.
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the execution or accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc.
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a particular action, deed, or proceeding.
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an action or proceeding of an unusual or spectacular kind.
His temper tantrum was quite a performance.
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the act of performing.
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the manner in which or the efficiency with which something reacts or fulfills its intended purpose.
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Linguistics. the actual use of language in real situations, which may or may not fully reflect a speaker's competence, being subject to such nonlinguistic factors as inattention, distraction, memory lapses, fatigue, or emotional state.
noun
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the act, process, or art of performing
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an artistic or dramatic production
last night's performance was terrible
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manner or quality of functioning
a machine's performance
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informal mode of conduct or behaviour, esp when distasteful or irregular
what did you mean by that performance at the restaurant?
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informal any tiresome procedure
what a performance dressing the children to play in the snow!
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any accomplishment
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linguistics (in transformational grammar) the form of the human language faculty, viewed as concretely embodied in speakers Compare competence langue parole
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of performance
Explanation
Performance has to do with doing something: a concert or play is a performance, and if you want to talk about how well the actors did, you'd rate their performance. The main sense of performance is artsy: actors and musicians (and other performers) give performances. You could praise an actor's performance in a movie, but this word extends to other kinds of work and accomplishments as well. If you're failing math, your performance is below par. An athlete can get in trouble for taking performance-enhancing drugs: drugs that make their performance better. Anytime you're talking about how something or someone works — or performs — you're talking about performance.
Vocabulary lists containing performance
Academy Awards, List 6
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myPerspectives 8.3
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While North America continued to be the key growth engine, the performance in China remained challenging, the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Setting the tone for the season ahead, particularly after such a lacklustre start, is vital, with a performance now just as important as the result.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
As you can see, the exceptions haven’t exactly seen standout stock performance either.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
"Across the Group, we are seeing early signs of progress in brand desirability, commercial momentum and operating performance," chief executive Luca de Meo said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
He was far from convinced by Nixon’s performance.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
But there were also a number of impressive performances given the conditions.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
When I wasn’t in summer performances, I played softball in concrete parks and vacant lots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
For a player reportedly earning over £300,000 a week, his performances fell well short of expectations.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
It was a righteous display of power from a sport that’s rich with extraordinary performances, still gets an occasional knock, and likely will forever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
He constructs small keepsake clocks for them depicting their favorite acts or performances.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
