Advertisement
Advertisement
powerhouse
[ pou-er-hous ]
noun
- Electricity. a generating station.
- a person, group, team, or the like, having great energy, strength, or potential for success.
powerhouse
/ ˈpaʊəˌhaʊs /
noun
- an electrical generating station or plant
- informal.a forceful or powerful person or thing
Word History and Origins
Origin of powerhouse1
Example Sentences
The English vocal powerhouse Yola spells out her pleasure principle on “Symphony,” a funky, upbeat celebration of sensuality that will appear on her forthcoming EP, “My Way.”
Yet the interest is undeniable, so much so that it convinced streaming powerhouse Netflix to broadcast the event live to a global subscriber list of 280 million.
Reilly describes Beth as a "powerhouse", telling me it's been "such a fun adventure to put her on".
The Florida politics powerhouse has lengthy campaign management experience but hasn’t spent time in the executive branch before.
His victory is now likely to hinder Xi Jinping’s plans to transform the country into a technology powerhouse – and further strain relations between the world’s two biggest economies.
Advertisement
Related Words
More About Powerhouse
What does powerhouse mean?
A powerhouse is a powerful, forceful, or dominant person, group, or thing.
In a literal sense, a powerhouse is a station or plant that generates electricity. Although it can still be used this way, terms like power plant and power station are much more common. Powerhouse is far more commonly used in the figurative way, especially in context of sports and business.
Example: Because they always win, they can always recruit the best players, which makes them a perennial powerhouse in the conference.
Where does powerhouse come from?
The first records of powerhouse come from around the last quarter of the 1800s, which makes sense, since that was when electrical generation started to become more practical and widespread. The word is simply a combination of power and house, in which house is used as a general word for a building (as opposed to a home where someone lives).
It didn’t take too long for powerhouse to be used in a figurative way for powerful people or things, especially those known for dominating in their field. A company may be considered a powerhouse in its industry, or a country may be described as a manufacturing powerhouse.
Powerhouse is perhaps most often used as a sports cliché. It is often applied to teams that are especially tough to beat or are known for winning year after year.
Did you know ... ?
What are some synonyms for powerhouse?
What are some words that share a root or word element with powerhouse?
What are some words that often get used in discussing powerhouse?
How is powerhouse used in real life?
Powerhouse is most often used figuratively, especially in the context of sports.
Woo hoo. Was amidst a new-job search for over 14 months. So happy to be joining a powerhouse in the industry. Just completed 1st week back!
— Mike Ryan (@MikeRyan3) May 28, 2017
More to the point, there doesn't seem to be any powerhouse in the division (esp. with Nats banged up). They can compete with these teams.
— Ryan (@RyanfromJersey) May 5, 2014
Washington state is truly a powerhouse. We got Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing and Starbucks. But most importantly, we got Costco baby
— seanathon (@seandolsen) September 25, 2018
Try using powerhouse!
Which of the following words is LEAST likely to describe a powerhouse?
A. weak
B. strong
C. dominant
D. powerful
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse