performance
Americannoun
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performances
plural
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a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience.
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the act of performing a ceremony, play, piece of music, etc.
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the execution or accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc.
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a particular action, deed, or proceeding.
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an action or proceeding of an unusual or spectacular kind.
His temper tantrum was quite a performance.
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the act of performing.
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the manner in which or the efficiency with which something reacts or fulfills its intended purpose.
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Linguistics. the actual use of language in real situations, which may or may not fully reflect a speaker's competence, being subject to such nonlinguistic factors as inattention, distraction, memory lapses, fatigue, or emotional state.
noun
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the act, process, or art of performing
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an artistic or dramatic production
last night's performance was terrible
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manner or quality of functioning
a machine's performance
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informal mode of conduct or behaviour, esp when distasteful or irregular
what did you mean by that performance at the restaurant?
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informal any tiresome procedure
what a performance dressing the children to play in the snow!
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any accomplishment
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linguistics (in transformational grammar) the form of the human language faculty, viewed as concretely embodied in speakers Compare competence langue parole
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of performance
Explanation
Performance has to do with doing something: a concert or play is a performance, and if you want to talk about how well the actors did, you'd rate their performance. The main sense of performance is artsy: actors and musicians (and other performers) give performances. You could praise an actor's performance in a movie, but this word extends to other kinds of work and accomplishments as well. If you're failing math, your performance is below par. An athlete can get in trouble for taking performance-enhancing drugs: drugs that make their performance better. Anytime you're talking about how something or someone works — or performs — you're talking about performance.
Vocabulary lists containing performance
Academy Awards, List 6
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myPerspectives 8.3
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 6
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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.
See Examples For:
New research from Emory University suggests that higher vitamin D supplement intake may be linked to stronger cognitive performance in adults who face an increased risk of developing dementia.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
One such strategy, direct indexing, involves buying individual securities that track the performance of an index while also generating losses that can be used to reduce capital-gains taxes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Vitaly Janelt: Pounced for second goal and provided the sort of solid performance Brentford have come to count on.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Simpson aimed to build on his performance against the Chiefs, when he completed 21 of 25 for 190 yards and two touchdowns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
If it had been up to him, the demigod version of the Adams-Jefferson dialogue would have captured its essence and ultimate meaning as a staged performance for posterity.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
In a nod to Rolli Days, the city has recently launched Staglieno Days, which will take place on Sept. 26 and 27, featuring themed tours, concerts and pageant-like performances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Lee considered it one of his finest films, featuring one of his finest performances.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Silent performance can be an actor’s dream and a real challenge, since it relies on physical performances and visual execution to communicate with the audience.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
A group of Hollywood and Silicon Valley power players proposed a framework to approach AI by distinguishing between “Human Generative Workflows” and uses that replace human contributions like actors’ performances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
I made friends easily, in part because Princesse had gone to the school, but also because people recognized me from choir performances we had held there over the years.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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.
