What does "strength" mean?
The quality or degree of being strong.
Strength
/stɹɛŋ(k)θ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The quality or degree of being strong.
- Grammar: strength is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: force, forte, fortitude, intensity.
- Useful contrasts: minor blemish, obvious flaw, vulnerable area.
- Usage evidence: I don't have the strength to keep trying.
How to use "strength"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "strength" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "strength" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "strength" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "strength" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "strength" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "force" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "strength", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The quality or degree of being strong. countable, uncountable
"It requires great strength to lift heavy objects."
- 2 the property of being physically or mentally strong wordnet
- 3 The intensity of a force or power; potency. countable, uncountable
"He had the strength of ten men."
- 4 capacity to produce strong physiological or chemical effects wordnet
- 5 The strongest part of something; that on which confidence or reliance is based. countable, uncountable
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 physical energy or intensity wordnet
- 7 A positive attribute. countable, uncountable
"to play to one's strengths"
- 8 permanence by virtue of the power to resist stress or force wordnet
- 9 An armed force, a body of troops. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Thou princely leader of our English strength, Never so needful on the earth of France,"
- 10 the amount of energy transmitted (as by acoustic or electromagnetic radiation) wordnet
- 11 A strong place; a stronghold. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"All like himself rebellious, by whose aid This inaccessible high strength, the seat Of Deitie supream, us dispossest, He trusted to have seis’d […]"
- 12 an asset of special worth or utility wordnet
- 13 The minimum ratio of the number of edges removed from a given graph to components created, over all possible removals. countable, uncountable
- 14 the power to induce the taking of a course of action or the embracing of a point of view by means of argument or entreaty wordnet
- 15 capability in terms of personnel and materiel that affect the capacity to fight a war wordnet
- 16 the condition of financial success wordnet
Verb
- 1 To strengthen (all senses). obsolete
"ſtrengthed with all myght / thꝛowe hys gloꝛious power / vnto all pacience / and longe ſufferynge with ioyfulnes"
Antonyms
Example
"I don't have the strength to keep trying."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "strength"?
Common synonyms include: force, forte, fortitude, intensity, potency, power.
How do you use "strength" in a sentence?
I don't have the strength to keep trying.
How do you pronounce "strength"?
Pronounced /stɹɛŋ(k)θ/.
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”).