Word.ws English Dictionary

strong

/stɹɒŋ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northumbria/stɹaŋ/

strong adjective: capable of producing great physical force.

Adjective

strong (comparative stronger, superlative strongest)

  1. Capable of producing great physical force.
    • a big strong man; Jake was tall and strong
    • The man was nearly drowned after a strong undercurrent swept him out to sea.
    Synonyms:
    forceful, powerful
    Antonyms:
    weak, forceless
  2. Capable of withstanding great physical force.
    • a strong foundation; good strong shoes
    • Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker.1889, Friedrich Nietzsche, “Sprüche und Pfeile [Maxims and Arrows]”, in Götzen-Dämmerung, oder, Wie man mit dem Hammer philosophiert [Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer]
    Synonyms:
    durable, sturdy, tough
    Antonyms:
    fragile
  3. (broadly) Possessing power, might, or strength.
    • A wise man is strong, yea a man of knowledge encreaseth strength.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 24:5
    • Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the sea.1954, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “The Passage of the Marshes”, in The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings; 2), HarperCollinsPublishers, published 2001, page 619
  4. Determined; unyielding.
    • The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
    • Ideas are eternal; they hang in the stars, and a man must be brave and strong enough to reach up to the stars and fetch down the fire from heaven and to carry the torch among men.1934 March, Hermann Göring, Germany Reborn, page 47
    Synonyms:
    ardent, zealous, swith
  5. Highly stimulating to the senses.
    • a strong light; a strong taste
    Synonyms:
    extreme, intense
  6. Having an offensive or intense odor or flavor.
    • a strong smell
    Synonyms:
    rank
  7. Having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient.
    • a strong cup of coffee; a strong medicine
    Synonyms:
    concentrated, potent
    Antonyms:
    weak, diluted, impotent
  8. (specifically) Having a high alcoholic content.
    • a strong drink
    • She gets up, and pours herself a strong one. - Eagles, Lying Eyes
    Synonyms:
    hard
  9. Inflecting in a different manner than the one called weak, such as Germanic verbs which change vowels.
    • a strong verb
    Antonyms:
    weak
  10. (Indo-European-studies, especially) Of a form in which the accent is in the leftmost (first) slot allowed in the relevant paradigm, or reflecting an ancestral Proto-Indo-European form in which this was the case, as opposed to tending to shift to the right.
    • Paradigmatic slots in which the accent and correlating e-grade are positioned further to the left of the word are traditionally termed strong, those with accent and e-grade further to the right, are called weak. In all nouns and verbs which show these alternations, the strong and the weak forms are...2007, James Clackson, Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, section 3.5, page 79
    • PIE strong stems were most frequently in the full grade (e-grade), less often in the o-grade (though more common in thematic nouns and stative verbs) and least often in the zero grade.
    Antonyms:
    weak
    1. (Indo-European-studies, especially) In the nominative, accusative or vocative case, regardless of number, or sometimes in the locative singular.
      • Strong *dʰéh₁-mn̥, weak *dʰh₁-mén-.
    2. (Indo-European-studies, especially) Typically, of a conjugation which is singular and active; i.e., excluding dual and plural numbers and passive/middle voices.
      • Strong *dʰéh₁- (e.g. *dʰéh₁m̥ (“I put”), *dʰéh₁oh₂ (“I would put”)), weak *dʰh₁- (e.g. *dʰh₁ént (“they all put”), active participle *dʰh₁ónts, *dʰh₁tó (“(he/she/it) is placed”), middle participle *dʰh₁m̥h₁nós).
  11. That completely ionizes into anions and cations in a solution.
    • a strong acid; a strong base
    Antonyms:
    weak
  12. Not easily subdued or taken.
    • a strong position
    Antonyms:
    weak
Show 6 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. Having wealth or resources.
    • a strong economy
  2. (US, slang) Impressive, good.
    • You're working with troubled youth in your off time? That’s strong!
  3. Having a specified number of people or units.
    • The enemy's army force was five thousand strong.
    • Our armie will be forty thouſand ſtrong,
      When Tamburlain and braue Theridamas
      Haue met vs by the riuer Araris:
      And all conioin’d to meete the witleſſe King,
      That now is marching neere to Parthia.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
  4. Severe; very bad or intense.
    • Physicians may diagnosis influenza by a throat culture or blood test, which may be important if you have a particularly strong flu, if your doctor suspects pneumonia or a bacterial infection.2005, Andrew Gaeddert, Healing Immune Disorders: Natural Defense-Building Solutions, North Atlantic Books, page 221
  5. Having a wide range of logical consequences; widely applicable. (Often contrasted with a weak statement which it implies.)
  6. Convincing.
    • […] but grounding him ſelfe vpon ſtrong reaſons, to wit, that he had not offended the Iewes, neither yet the Law, but that he was innocēt, and therefore that no iudge oght to geue hym in the hādes of his ennemies […]1558, John Knox, The Appellation of Iohn Knoxe from the cruell and moſt iniuſt ſentence pronounced againſt him by the falſe biſhoppes and clergie of Scotland, page 11v

Noun

strong pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only, preceeded by "the") Strong people, collectively.

Adverb

strong (not comparable)

  1. In a strong manner.
    • As a salesperson I always come on strong.

Proper noun capitalized: Strong

Strong

  1. A surname.
  2. A minor city in Union County, Arkansas.
  3. A township in Chase County, Kansas.
  4. A town in Franklin County, Maine.
  5. An unincorporated community in Monroe County, Mississippi.
  6. A census-designated place in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.
  7. A township and community therein, in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada.

strong meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

strong in Hindi

capable of producing great physical force
बलवान balvān, शक्तिशाली śaktiśālī, बली balī, ताक़तवर tāqatvar
capable of withstanding great physical force
शक्तिशाली śaktiśālī, बली balī, मज़बूत mazbūt, तगड़ा tagṛā

strong in Tamil

பலமான, வலிமையான, உறுதியான, இகல்

strong in Marathi

strong, firm
मजबूत majbūt
strong, powerful
जोरदार j̈ordār
strong
कडक kaḍak

strong in Urdu

capable of producing great physical force
بلوان balavān, طاقتور tāqatvar
capable of withstanding great physical force
مضبوط mazbūt, تگڑا tagaṛā
More languagesFewer languages
strong in Bengali
শক্তিশালী śoktiśali
strong in Telugu
బలమైన balamaina, దృఢమైన dr̥ḍhamaina, గాఢమైన gāḍhamaina
strong in Malayalam
വമ്പൻ vampaṉ, വമ്പത്തി vampatti, കട്ട kaṭṭa, കട്ടൻ kaṭṭaṉ
strong in Kannada
ಕೊಡಿ, ಗಟ್ಟಿ, ಕಡು, ಬಿರುಸು
strong in Punjabi
تند tund, نگر niggur, ਬਲਵੰਤ balvant, ਮਜ਼ਬੂਤ mazbūt
strong in Gujarati
બળવાન baḷvān
strong in Odia
ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ purṇṇa
strong in Sanskrit
प्रबल prabala, बलवान balavāna, सबल sabala, दृढ़
strong in Assamese
বলী boli
strong in Nepali
बलियो baliyo
strong in Pashto
ګړندی gëṛënday
strong in Tagalog
malakas
strong in Arabic
قَوِيّ qawiyy, شَدِيْد šadiyd, ثَقِيْل ṯaqiyl, مَنِيع manīʕ
strong in Malay
kuat
strong in Indonesian
kuat
strong in Persian
قوی qavi, زورمند zurmand
strong in Thai
แข็งแรง kɛ̌ng-rɛɛng, แข็งแกร่ง
strong in Vietnamese
mạnh, chắc
strong in Myanmar
ကျန်း kyan:, ပြင်း prang:, ဗလဝ ba.la.wa.

Examples of strong in a sentence

  • He is strong in the face of adversity.
  • It seems a town right in the river, each building standing upon its own foundation, with the deep, strong current of the river sweeping all around it?1853 April, Warren Isham, “Notes from Hungary”, in Warren Isham, editor, The Michigan Farmer, volume XI, number 4:
  • Outgassing of oxygen is strongest when primary production rates are greatest; ingassing is at a maximum during net respiration.2010, Heinrich D Holland, Karl K. Turekian, Isotope Geochemistry:
  • It noted China was especially strong in the fast-growing area of “deep learning.”2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2019:
  • In all nouns and verbs which show these alternations, the strong and the weak forms are predictable from the morphological category […].2007, James Clackson, Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, section 3.5, page 79:

All 40 example sentences with strong

Synonyms of strong

13 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of strong

Forms of strong

comparativestronger
superlativestrongest
alternative deliberate misspellingstronk
alternative form (dialectal)strang

Origin of strong

From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang (“strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *strang (“severe, strict, rigorous, strong”), from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), West Frisian strang, string (“strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough, strong, intense”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), dialectal Dutch strang (“tight, strict, powerful, intense, mighty, strong”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Danish and Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Faroese and Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Latin stringō (“tighten”). Related to strict and string.

Words formed from strong

Phrases with strong

35 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with strong

26 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about strong

What does strong mean?
Strong means capable of producing great physical force.
What is strong in Hindi?
Strong in Hindi is बलवान (balvān), शक्तिशाली (śaktiśālī), बली (balī). See Strong meaning in Hindi.
How do you use strong in a sentence?
He is strong in the face of adversity.
What part of speech is strong?
Strong can be an adjective, a noun, an adverb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce strong?
Strong is pronounced /stɹɒŋ/ (UK).

Words near strong in the dictionary

  1. Stronach
  2. Stronachlachar
  3. stronalsite
  4. strond
  5. stronds
  6. strong
  7. strong AI
  8. strong AIs
  9. strong arm
  10. strong artificial intelligence
  11. strong artificial intelligences

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: strong (page history and authors); Strong (page history and authors); strong (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कडक (Marathi) (page history and authors); കട്ട (Malayalam) (page history and authors); strong (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); تند (Punjabi) (page history and authors); બળવાન (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ (Odia) (page history and authors); ګړندی (Pashto) (page history and authors). 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-uk-strong.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-strong.wav.

Cite this entry: “strong.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/strong. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.