tour de force

[ toor duh-fawrs, -fohrs; French toorduh-fawrs ]
See synonyms for tour de force on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural tours de force [toorz duh-fawrs, -fohrs; French toorduh-fawrs]. /ˌtʊərz də ˈfɔrs, -ˈfoʊrs; French tur də ˈfɔrs/.
  1. an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else; stroke of genius: Herman Melville's Moby Dick was a tour de force.

  2. a particularly adroit maneuver or technique in handling a difficult situation: The way the president got his bill through the Senate was a tour de force.

  1. a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity.

Origin of tour de force

1
1795–1805; <French: feat of strength or skill

Words Nearby tour de force

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British Dictionary definitions for tour de force

tour de force

/ French (tur də fɔrs, English ˈtʊə də ˈfɔːs) /


nounplural tours de force (tur, English ˈtʊə)
  1. a masterly or brilliant stroke, creation, effect, or accomplishment

Origin of tour de force

1
literally: feat of skill or strength

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for tour de force

tour de force

[ (toor duh fawrs) ]


A feat accomplished through great skill and ability: “The speech was a tour de force; it swept the audience off its feet.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.