tour de force
7
8.0
- noun
- /ˌtʊr də ˈfɔrs/
- Literature
:
tour de force
- The artist created a tour de force of modern sculpture, captivating everyone who visited the gallery.
And it's really a kind of Tour de force to accomplish this.
- And it's really a kind of Tour de force to accomplish this.
- He played it to AT without him, without him, that show, he was like a Tour de force, like he was on a different level.
- David Duelas's big breakthrough was the Mike Lee film Naked, which, if you haven't seen it, is a mind blowing Tour de force of acting He has been in.
- Did a Tour de force, as Shoemaker says, where I did the voices of the entire Seinfeld cast.
- It's like a a Tour de force on masculinity in many ways.
- It's a great Tour de force because you had to, because logic itself barely existed.
- And just as Tour de force to show that you don't need a lot of words to make a scene, we get it right away.
Examples
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The Silent Strength of Stones (Avon) is a magical tour de force that should not be missed.
Fiction book (1995) -
A real Tour de force of Roman architecture, in my opinion one of the greatest buildings ever built by Roman architects.
-
The book is a tour-de-force; there is nothing like it anywhere.
Academic text (2008) -
Shapley had carried out a tour de force.
Academic text (2010) -
It's an acting tour de force, brilliantly written, and a marvel to watch.
Blog text (21) -
The novel is a second tour de force for one of America's most daring writers.
Fiction book (1999) -
His presidential address was highly original, an intellectual tour de force that opened the door of the discipline to its humanistic roots.
Academic text (2004) -
"A cinematic tour de force takes aim at the twin horrors of healthcare and racism, in Malcolm Elliot's rebellious, jazzy directorial debut."
-
The movie was a real tour de force, showcasing the director's remarkable vision and talent.
-
Her performance in the play was a tour de force, earning her accolades from critics and audiences alike.
Synonyms
4
7.3
A very clever action that succeeds and helps a lot
1
3.4
A very impressive show that people remember for a long time
A very impressive show that excites the audience
A very successful event or product that people praise
Antonyms
How Impressive
- Literature
7
8.0
156
3.8
108
3.8
344
2.3
184
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
tour + de + force
This is a French loanword phrase whose parts ('tour' ~ turn/tour, 'force' ~ strength) give a partial clue of a display of strength or skill, but the precise idiomatic meaning 'an outstanding or exceptional achievement' is not directly predictable to a B1 learner who only knows the English senses of the constituents. The presence of the French preposition 'de' and the phrase's conventionalized, borrowed status make the relation only partially transparent rather than fully compositional.
Etymology
Tour de force comes from French and paints a picture of a tour or 'turn' of great force, like a performer giving one very strong or clever act. So today tour de force means 'an outstanding achievement' that shows great skill.