powerful
Syllables: pow·er·fulUK/ˈpaʊəfl̩//ˈpaʊɚfl̩/
powerful adjective: having, or capable of exerting, power or influence.
Adjective
powerful (comparative more powerful, superlative most powerful)
- Having, or capable of exerting, power or influence.
- The powerful grace that lies / In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- [T]he ſubſtance of gold is indeed invincible by the povverfulleſt action of natural heat, […]1646, Thomas Browne, “Compendiously of Sundry Tenents Concerning Minerall and Terreous Bodies, which Examined, Prove either False or Dubious”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas]...
- Leading to many or important deductions.
- a powerful set of postulates
- a powerful theorem
- Synonyms:
- heavy
- Large; capacious; said of veins of ore.
- Being a powerful number.
- Synonyms:
- squareful
Adverb
powerful (comparative more powerful, superlative most powerful)
- very; extremely
- "Well, you see, Thady, we'd a powerful great harvist uv it, you know, this year, an' the min all worked like jewels, as they are; an' the masther was in great sperits, an' he promis'd he'd give us all a grand dinner whin the dhrawin'-in was over, an' the corn all safe in the haggard."1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 514
- Above all, she remembered that first time in the Houmfor where her black nurse had once taken her as a child. 'It do yuh no harm, Missy. Dis powerful good juju. Care fe yuh res 'f yo life.'1954, Ian Fleming, “Allumeuse”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 108
powerful meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
powerful in Hindi
- having or capable of exerting power, potency or influence
- शक्तिशाली śaktiśālī, बली balī, शक्तिमान śaktimān
powerful in Tamil
- திறன்மிகு
powerful in Marathi
- शक्तिशाली, सामर्थ्यवान
powerful in Urdu
- powerful
- توانا tavānā
- powerful, strong, mighty
- بیر bīr
More languagesFewer languages
- powerful in Bengali
- শক্ত śokto
- powerful in Telugu
- బలమైన balamaina, శక్తివంతం śaktivantaṁ
- powerful in Malayalam
- ജോർ jōṟ
- powerful in Kannada
- ಕೊನ್ನಿಗ, ಪ್ರಬಲ, ಬಲಿಷ್ಠ, ಅಧಿಕ ಶಕ್ತಿಯುಳ್ಳ
- powerful in Punjabi
- ਸ਼ਕਤੀਸ਼ਾਲੀ
- powerful in Gujarati
- જોરદાર jordār
- powerful in Sanskrit
- उग्र ugra, विभूति vibhūti
- powerful in Assamese
- শক্তিশালী xoktixali, হাত-দীঘল hat-dighol
- powerful in Nepali
- शक्तिशाली
- powerful in Arabic
- قَوِيّ qawiyy
- powerful in Malay
- berkuasa
- powerful in Persian
- قوی qavi
- powerful in Vietnamese
- mạnh mẽ, hùng mạnh, hùng cường
Examples of powerful in a sentence
- The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere — an invisible bubble of magnetism generated by the powerful churning of molten metals at Earth’s core.2023 December 27, Mindy Weisberger, “Ancient bricks baked when Nebuchadnezzar II was king absorbed a power surge in Earth’s magnetic...
- "She was stinkin' hot down here that summer, an' we were powerful dry."1972, John O'Grady, It's Your Shout, Mate, Ure Smith, page 59:
Synonyms of powerful
Antonyms
Forms of powerful
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more powerful |
| superlative | most powerful |
| alternative form (obsolete) | powreful |
| alternative form (obsolete) | powrefull |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more powerful |
| superlative | most powerful |
Origin of powerful
From Middle English pouerful, powarfull. By surface analysis, power + -ful.
Words formed from powerful
Phrases with powerful
Questions about powerful
- What does powerful mean?
- Powerful means having, or capable of exerting, power or influence.
- What is powerful in Hindi?
- Powerful in Hindi is शक्तिशाली (śaktiśālī), बली (balī), शक्तिमान (śaktimān). See Powerful meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use powerful in a sentence?
- The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.
- What part of speech is powerful?
- Powerful can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce powerful?
- Powerful is pronounced /ˈpaʊəfl̩/ (UK).
Words near powerful in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: powerful (page history and authors); powerful (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); powerful (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); بیر (Urdu) (page history and authors); ജോർ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); powerful (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); powerful (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); જોરદાર (Gujarati) (page history and authors); শক্তিশালী (Assamese) (page history and authors); powerful (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-powerful.ogg.
Cite this entry: “powerful.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/powerful. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.