How to Use powerful in a Sentence

powerful

adjective
  • The dog has a powerful body.
  • The weapons are very powerful.
  • The perfume has a powerful smell.
  • She has a powerful voice.
  • It's a very powerful movie.
  • The aardvark uses its powerful claws to dig for food.
  • The country is becoming more and more powerful.
  • The cash bonus provides a powerful incentive to workers.
  • The Sun and the Moon tell Vishnu, one of the most powerful of the gods.
    Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2024
  • The world of the rich and powerful, where things are mostly fine.
    Libby Watson, The New Republic, 14 Aug. 2020
  • There is no more powerful film made in the past decade.
    Jason Herbert, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Dec. 2019
  • The waves are shoulder high; the rides are long and powerful.
    The Healthyish Team, Bon Appetit, 10 July 2017
  • The urge to set down roots could be very powerful right now.
    Tarot Astrologers, chicagotribune.com, 18 Nov. 2021
  • Along the coast, powerful winds led to some of the worst tidal flooding in four decades.
    CBS News, 5 Jan. 2018
  • The more powerful the massage gun, the higher the stall force.
    Barbara Bellesi Zito, Peoplemag, 9 May 2023
  • The waves sometimes arrive in sets, the first few the most powerful.
    Nora Mishanec, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 May 2021
  • The smell coming from the truck’s open doors was powerful.
    New York Times, 29 June 2022
  • They might be forced to not take on the powerful in this country.
    Sonia Moghe, CNN, 11 Feb. 2022
  • Except, of course, the street car is way more powerful than the race car, with way less grip.
    Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 4 July 2020
  • Instead, the oil was spiked with a powerful street drug.
    Author: Holbrook Mohr, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Sep. 2019
  • Here are some of his most powerful images from the past 80 days.
    New York Times, 28 Aug. 2019
  • Hardy’s management team is one of the most powerful in the sport.
    Dave Doyle, MMA Junkie, 21 July 2019
  • The most powerful among these militias have links to Iran.
    Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2023
  • Malala Yousafzai’s story is one of the most powerful out there.
    Avery Matera, Teen Vogue, 18 Oct. 2017
  • The richest man in the world seems determined to take on the most powerful.
    Alan Ohnsman, Forbes, 28 Jan. 2022
  • That's a very powerful emotion that stays with you for a very, very long time.
    Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, 12 Mar. 2018
  • The more powerful the motor, the more heavy-duty work a tiller can take on.
    Rachel Dube, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Feb. 2023
  • The praise was tempered by one powerful critique that cut through the hype.
    Alissa Walker, Curbed, 27 Dec. 2018
  • This is the web version of MPW Daily, a daily newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women.
    Nina Ajemian, Fortune, 29 Nov. 2024
  • Make quick work of your household chore list with rare savings on the lightweight but powerful Dyson V11 cordless vacuum.
    Isabel Garcia, People.com, 29 Nov. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'powerful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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