strength means the quality or degree of being strong. It carries an Arena rating of 1432, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, strength ranks #167 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #2,916 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words, #3,205 of 17,114 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,430 of 17,118 for Most Ponderous Words.
strength is pronounced /ˈstɹɛŋθ/.
Why “strength” is a great word
The inherent quality of being physically robust, mentally resilient, or morally steadfast; the capacity to endure force, pressure, or assault. From Middle English strengthe, from Old English strengþu, from Proto-West Germanic *strangiþu, equivalent to strong + the abstract nominal suffix -th. Unlike "power," which implies the capacity to command or exert control, or "fortitude," which specifically denotes courageous endurance, strength is the foundational bedrock that makes such expressions possible. It is the quiet rigidity of an ancient oak weathering a gale, the steady pressure of a shoulder against a buckling door, and the unseen tensile integrity of a principle that will not bend—the interior architecture upon which all action, and all endurance, is built.
Etymology
From Middle English strengthe, from Old English strengþu (“strength”), from Proto-West Germanic *strangiþu (“strongness; strength”), equivalent to strong + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Dutch strengte (“strength”), German Low German Strengde, Strengte (“harshness; rigidity; strictness; severity”).
noun
- The quality or degree of being strong.e.g.“It requires great strength to lift heavy objects.”
- The intensity of a force or power; potency.e.g.“He had the strength of ten men.”
- The strongest part of something; that on which confidence or reliance is based.e.g.“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
- A positive attribute.e.g.“to play to one's strengths”
- An armed force, a body of troops.e.g.“Thou princely leader of our English strength,
Never so needful on the earth of France,”
- A strong place; a stronghold.e.g.“All like himself rebellious, by whose aid
This inaccessible high strength, the seat
Of Deitie supream, us dispossest,
He trusted to have seis’d […]”
- The minimum ratio of the number of edges removed from a given graph to components created, over all possible removals.
verb
- To strengthen (all senses).
Words closest in meaning
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