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

Midway through the film, an I.E.D. explodes just outside the apartment building, and the sequence that follows, in which the survivors gradually regain consciousness, is a tour de force of sensory deprivation and temporal dislocation. —Justin Chang, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2025

The role required a real tour de force given intense emotional — and, at times, physical — extremes. —Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2025

Ten people, all members of the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers, were convicted of sedition — the tour de force of the Justice Department’s wide-sweeping Jan. 6 prosecution. —Ella Lee, The Hill, 18 Jan. 2025

The first hybrid 911 promises to be a tour de force of efficiency and performance. —Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 26 Dec. 2024

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