1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

powerful

adjective

ˈpau̇(-ə)r-fəl How to pronounce powerful (audio)
Definition of powerfulnext
as in influential
having great power or influence a powerful producer in the music business who is considered responsible for the careers of several superstars

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of powerful Sam Altman may be one of the most powerful people in artificial intelligence. — Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2026 Both the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 boast the powerful S11 chip, upgraded heart rate tracking, and new Audio Intelligence. — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 14 Sep. 2026 Meanwhile in tech, OpenAI has ruled out an IPO this year as concerns grow about the safety of increasingly powerful AI systems. — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026 Artificial intelligence stocks tumbled on Monday after American leaders of the AI revolution called for a coordinated slowdown in building more powerful AI systems. — Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for powerful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for powerful
  1. influential
  2. significant
  3. strong
  4. important
Adjective
  • Oemis Durruthy, the Cuban national who prosecutors allege is influential among the Cuban diaspora in Moscow, is charged with coordinating travel and payments for the terrorist acts.
    — Shirsho Dasgupta, Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2026
  • That’s leading officials on the central bank’s influential rate-setting committee toward the first rate hike since 2023, a move designed to cool spending and prevent inflation from becoming more entrenched.
    — Matt Stiles, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of influential
Adjective
  • Jenkins said sextortion is another significant concern that can impact children with law enforcement seeing particularly serious impacts among teen boys.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Construction on the new White House ballroom and demolition of the East Wing have faced significant legal challenges, though the Supreme Court recently ruled in a 5-4 decision that construction can continue.
    — Carter Schroppe, The Washington Examiner, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of significant
Adjective
  • The latest forecast predicts the center will pass roughly 115 to 150 miles west of Kauai, close enough that any additional eastward shifts in the track could bring stronger winds and greater impacts, particularly to Kauai, the hurricane center said.
    — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Design delivers low noise and vibration levels The new Elegance Pod is being developed with a strong focus on total system efficiency.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of strong
Adjective
  • Steve Russell, vice president and general manager of Edison Works at GE Aerospace, said accelerating this type of testing is important for developing next-gen capabilities.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Turn on account alerts for purchases, transfers, password changes and other important activity.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of important

Browse Nearby Words

powered
powerful
powerfully
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Powerful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/powerful. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of churlish

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All