tour de force

noun

ˌtu̇r-də-ˈfȯrs 

plural tours de force ˌtu̇r-də-ˈfȯrs 

: a feat or display of strength, skill, or ingenuity

the movie is a comic tour de force

Synonyms

• deed
• exploit
• feat
• number
• stunt
• trick

Examples of tour de force in a Sentence

The book is a tour de force.

Her performance in the play was a real tour de force.

Recent Examples on the Web

At first glance, the paper read like a scientific tour de force—an elegant fusion of medicine, mathematics, biochemistry, computational biology, and machine learning. —Siddhartha Mukherjee, New Yorker, 16 June 2025

The 42-year-old tour de force has been managing director of the F1 Academy, the all-female race series from Formula 1, since 2023. —Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 14 June 2025

But the real tour de force is how Arbel has used the site. —Caroline Roux, Architectural Digest, 5 June 2025

Yet, despite all of these physical and emotional challenges, damn did Colin come to play, delivering a heart wrenching, gritty, tour de force performance. —Lauren Lefranc, IndieWire, 3 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

French

First Known Use

1802, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tour de force

• counterforce
• intercourse
• nonrecourse
• reinforce
• watercourse
• bourse
• coarse
• course
• gorse
• hoarse
• horse
• norse