puissant
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- overpuissant adjective
- overpuissantly adverb
- puissantly adverb
Etymology
Origin of puissant
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French < Vulgar Latin *possent- (stem of *possēns ), for Latin potent- (stem of potēns ), present participle of posse to be able, have power; potent 1, -ant
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Kai A. Ealy offers a puissant portrayal of Oedipus’ traitorous son Polynecies and Jason Huysman, donning a white suit and cruelly manipulative demeanor, makes a vivid impression as Creon.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2023
The play, he writes, is “smart, compact and stirring” and “seems destined to have a life as a puissant postscript to Ibsen’s masterwork.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2017
The Royal Nappy , on the other hand, is focused on the business end of the puissant infant, as you might expect from the chap who brought you The Queen's Knickers and Cinderella's Bum.
From The Guardian • Jul. 19, 2013
Red Pope'' of the Roman Catholic Church is that most puissant Cardinal in charge of its vast foreign missions�the prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of Faith.
From Time Magazine Archive
He braced himself for one of Lillian’s cold, puissant lectures to enfilade the dispirited citadel of his self-respect.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
