The country is becoming more and more powerful.
powerful drugs that attack cancer cells
The cash bonus provides a powerful incentive to workers.
The perfume has a powerful smell.
It's a very powerful movie.
The dog has a powerful body.
She has a powerful voice.
The weapons are very powerful.
The aardvark uses its powerful claws to dig for food.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'powerful.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
15th century
heavy, heavy-duty, important, influential, mighty, potent, puissant, significant, strong;
helpless, impotent, insignificant, little, powerless, unimportant, weak;
anonymous, nameless, obscure, uncelebrated, unknown;
incapable, incompetent, ineffective, inept, inexpert, unfit, unqualified, unskilled, unskillful;
high-level, senior, top;
able, capable, competent, effective, efficient;
celebrated, distinguished, dominant, eminent, famed, famous, great, illustrious, noble, notable, noteworthy, notorious, outstanding, preeminent, prestigious, prominent, renowned;
dynamic, energetic, forceful, high-powered, robust, vigorous;
: having the ability to control or influence people or things
: having a strong effect on someone or something
: having or producing a lot of physical strength or force
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for powerful Spanish Central: Translation of powerful Nglish: Translation of powerful for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of powerful for Arabic speakers
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