# powerful

Pronunciation: US say "POW-ur-fuhl" /ˈpaʊɚfl̩/; UK say "POW-uh-fuhl" /ˈpaʊəfl̩/

## Adjective

1. Having great power or influence, or able to exert it on others.
   - Simple: Having a lot of strength, control, or influence over others.
   - _The senator built a powerful network of allies over three decades._
   - _Few institutions remain as powerful as the central bank during a crisis._
2. Physically very strong or forceful; of a machine or device, having great power or a high capacity to perform its function.
   - Simple: Very strong in body or force. A powerful machine can do a lot of work.
   - _A powerful swimmer, she crossed the lake in under an hour._
   - _The truck's powerful engine hauled the trailer up the steep grade without slowing down._
3. Strong in its effect on a person's body, thinking, or emotions.
   - Simple: Able to change in a strong way how your body works or how you think or feel.
   - _The doctor prescribed a powerful painkiller for the first few days after surgery._
   - _Her speech at the memorial was short but powerful, and many in the crowd were in tears._
4. Leading to many or important conclusions or deductions.
   - Simple: Useful for working out many new facts or ideas, or very important ones.
   - _The new framework proved a powerful tool for deriving fresh results._
   - _Logicians prize a powerful axiom that yields a wealth of theorems._

## Adverb

5. To a high degree; very or extremely. *(archaic, Southern US)*
   - Simple: Very or extremely, used in country speech, especially in the Southern US, to make another word stronger.
   - _That's a powerful big fish you caught down at the creek._
   - _He was powerful glad to see them come home safe._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Designating a positive integer for which the square of every prime factor is also a divisor.
- (adjective) Large and capacious; said of a vein or lode of ore.

## Origin

From Middle English pouerful (also powarfull). By surface analysis, it is formed from "power" plus the suffix "-ful".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/powerful (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).