DictionaryAI

stronger

adjective
STRAWNG-gur/stɹɔŋɡɚ/UKSTRONG-guh/stɹɒŋɡə/

3 meanings of stronger

Practice

  1. 1
    adjective
    Comparative of strong.

    The new climbing rope is noticeably stronger than the old one.

    After months of training, she felt stronger with every workout.

    Note

    The regular comparative goes back to Old English strongra. It had a vowel-shifted twin, strengra, and both come from Proto-Germanic *strangizô. It carries every sense of strong into comparison: a rope that withstands more force, a more determined will, a sharper smell or flavor. It pairs with than, and much or far intensify it, as in J. B. Snell's 1954 remark in Railway Magazine that American influence was "much stronger than in Australia."

  2. 2
    adjective
    Better; more effective, convincing, or advantageous than something else compared.

    The lawyer presented a stronger case to the jury than the prosecution had.

    After the merger, the company found itself in a stronger position in the market.

    Similarbetter, superior, sounder, firmer

    Oppositeweaker, worse, inferior

  3. 3
    adjective
    Of a proposition, entailing another proposition without being entailed by it.

    The hypothesis that the function is continuous everywhere is stronger than the claim that it is continuous at a single point.

    Proving the stronger theorem automatically establishes the weaker one it entails.

    Oppositeweaker

    Note

    Logicians and mathematicians rank claims by how much they commit you to. A stronger statement says more, so it holds in fewer cases: its models form a proper subset of the weaker statement's. Its natural partner is weaker, and the trade is practical. Prove the stronger result and the weaker one comes free. Unlike the everyday comparative, it measures content, not force.

stronger is a form of strong

strong, adjective: Able to exert or produce great physical force, as with the muscles. Full entry

Forms
strongstronger comparativestrongest superlative
Spelling
strong → stronger: add -er

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of stronger apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

The comparative form of "strong," coming from Middle English strongere, strengere and Old English strongra, strengra, from Proto-Germanic *strangizô, the comparative of *strangaz ("strong"); it is simply "strong" plus "-er."