tour de force

noun

ˌtu̇r-də-ˈfȯrs 

plural tours de force ˌtu̇r-də-ˈfȯrs 

: a feat or display of strength, skill, or ingenuity

the movie is a comic tour de force

Synonyms

• deed
• exploit
• feat
• number
• stunt
• trick

Examples of tour de force in a Sentence

The book is a tour de force.

Her performance in the play was a real tour de force.

Recent Examples on the Web

But the heart of the book is her tour de force march through 21st-century German and European politics and history. —The Know, The Denver Post, 2 Mar. 2025

Constantine isn’t a total tour de force, but that’s also a big part of the joy of the movie and what leaves me unmoved by all the talk of a sequel. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2025

Three years after her tour de force in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis once again completely disappears into a character. —Eric Andersson, People.com, 23 Jan. 2025

Each is a modest tour de force of in-office confrontation—a reminder that happiness seldom means, or requires, the absence of conflict or disappointment. —Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French

First Known Use

1802, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tour de force

• counterforce
• intercourse
• nonrecourse
• reinforce
• watercourse
• bourse
• coarse
• course
• gorse
• hoarse
• horse
• norse