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tour de force

Français [ modifier le wikicode ], étymologie [ modifier le wikicode ], locution nominale [ modifier le wikicode ].

tour de force \tuʁ də fɔʁs\ masculin

  • Ce tour de force me fit penser à cette scène d’un roman de Walter Scott, où Richard Cœur de lion et le roi Saladin s’exercent à couper des barres de fer et des oreillers. —  ( Théophile Gautier , Voyage en Espagne , 1840, édition Charpentier, 1859)
  • Par un mystérieux tour de force , il avait réussi à se raser et à lisser ses cheveux dorés. Son visage était tout à fait séraphique. —  ( H. G. Wells , La Guerre dans les airs , 1908, traduction d’Henry-D. Davray et B. Kozakiewicz, Mercure de France , Paris, 1910, page 262 de l’édition de 1921)
  • On promenait un saint doré Ce qui tournait au tour de force Dans les ombres démesurées. —  ( Louis Aragon , Le Roman inachevé , 1956, Après l’amour )
  • Les grandes plates-formes, qui captent une part des activités humaines sur Internet, ont réussi le tour de force de recentraliser une technologie, Internet, dont la force et le succès tiennent à son caractère décentralisé. —  ( Martin Untersinger, Pauline Croquet, Réseaux sociaux, données personnelles, algorithmes… comment inventer un futur numérique plus radieux ? , Le Monde . Mis en ligne le 30 décembre 2018 )

Synonymes [ modifier le wikicode ]

Vocabulaire apparenté par le sens [ modifier le wikicode ].

  • de plus en plus fort comme chez Nicolet

Traductions [ modifier le wikicode ]

  • Allemand  : Husarenstück   (de) neutre
  • Anglais  : tour de force   (en)
  • Espagnol  : hazaña   (es) féminin , proeza   (es) féminin
  • Kotava  : sega   (*)
  • Néerlandais  : tour de force   (nl) , huzarenstuk   (nl) neutre , krachttoer   (nl)
  • Portugais  : façanha   (pt) , proeza   (pt)
  • Roumain  : tur de forță   (ro)

Prononciation [ modifier le wikicode ]

  • Lyon (France)  : écouter «  tour de force [ Prononciation ? ]  »

Anglais [ modifier le wikicode ]

tour de force \tuɹ də fɔɹs\ ou \tuə də fɔːs\

  • On air and social media, the consensus quickly developed that President Obama’s speech was a resounding success. On air, CNN analyst David Gergen called the speech “a tour de force politically… ambitious… inspiring.” —  (Mary McNamara, CNN’s Gergen Calls Obama Speech ‘Tour de Force’; AnaMarieCox Won’t Be Buying Bobby Jindal’s ShamWow , sur multichannel.com) À l’antenne et dans les médias sociaux, s’est rapidement développé un consensus selon lequel le discours du président Obama était un succès retentissant. À l’antenne, l’analyste de CNN David Gergen qualifia ce discours de « tour de force politiquement… ambitieux… inspirant. »
  • Brando’s performance is a tour de force of acting, and it is clear that he felt that giving Terry a New York accent was integral to the role. —  (Michael Newman, New York City English , De Gruyter Mouton, 2014, page 45)
  • (Région à préciser)  : écouter «  tour de force [ Prononciation ? ]  »

Néerlandais [ modifier le wikicode ]

tour de force \ Prononciation ? \ masculin

  • Tour de force .

un tour de force synonyme

  • Locutions nominales en français
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Expressio par Reverso

tour de force [n]

Prouesse ; performance ; exploit ; action dont la réussite est difficile ; coup de maître, comment dit-on ailleurs .

Si vous souhaitez savoir comment on dit « tour de force » en anglais , en espagnol , en portugais , en italien ou en allemand , cliquez ici .

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  • coup de maître

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Commentaires sur l'expression « tour de force » Commentaires

  • #1 atheofv 09/05/2021 à 11:08 Quel tour de force, hier . Bel exemple ! Mais demain ? Hein demain ?
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  • tour de force

an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else; stroke of genius: Herman Melville's Moby Dick was a tour de force.

a particularly adroit maneuver or technique in handling a difficult situation: The way the president got his bill through the Senate was a tour de force.

a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity.

Origin of tour de force

Words nearby tour de force.

  • tourbillion
  • Tour-de-France
  • tour d'horizon
  • tour en l'air

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tour de force in a sentence

In her aching memoir, she embarks on a tour de force examination of her childhood, marked first by her mother’s abandoning her when she was a toddler and later by the death of her beloved father.

Through the late 1960s, Capote claimed to be writing his masterpiece, his tour de force based on his swans, but several deadlines passed for it.

At 35, Hawa Hassan is already a tour de force when it comes to Somali food in America.

Understated yet opulent, measured, and intensely creepy, it’s a tour de force in balancing uncomfortable levels of tension and suspense with deep pathos.

Page’s tour de force performance in Hard Candy led, two years later, to Juno, a low-budget indie film that brought Page Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations and sudden megafame.

His family memoir, Sweet and Low, is a tour de force of reporting and memory—tender, curious, and exceptionally funny.

It is a tour de force of reporting: 13,000 words on a two-week deadline.

It's also a masterpiece of choreographed c--tery—Joffrey's final tour de force .

And, of course, she's best known for her ball-busting tour de force as Ed Helms's wife in The Hangover.

As a result, his version is a technical tour de force but a movie that never gets under your skin.

As a tour de force in the gentle art of lying, the snake-story is justly esteemed.

As a tour de force of geometrical imagination it would be difficult to parallel this hypothesis.

The physical tour de force , was one of those feats of agility in which Neb had been my instructor, ten years before.

If the Mastersingers was a little less successful as a work of art we should still have to regard it as an amazing tour de force .

The music for such incidents cannot be of the highest beauty; here we have one of the cases of a tour de force .

British Dictionary definitions for tour de force

/ French ( tur də fɔrs , English ˈtʊə də ˈfɔːs ) /

a masterly or brilliant stroke, creation, effect, or accomplishment

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for tour de force

[ (toor duh fawrs ) ]

A feat accomplished through great skill and ability: “The speech was a tour de force; it swept the audience off its feet.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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  • tour de force

noun as in spectacular achievement

Weak matches

  • accomplishment
  • achievement
  • chef-d'oeuvre
  • feat of strength
  • grand achievement
  • great achievement
  • magnum opus
  • master stroke
  • masterpiece
  • performance
  • pièce de résistance
  • stroke of genius

Discover More

Related words.

Words related to tour-de-force are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word tour-de-force . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

noun as in something completed successfully; goal reached

  • acquirement
  • acquisition
  • actualization
  • consummation
  • contrivance
  • effectuation
  • encompassment
  • fulfillment
  • realization

noun as in model

  • chef d'oeuvre

noun as in achievement, often by maneuver

  • coup d'état
  • coup de mâitre
  • successful stroke

noun as in achievement

  • happenin'

Viewing 5 / 18 related words

Example Sentences

In her aching memoir, she embarks on a tour de force examination of her childhood, marked first by her mother’s abandoning her when she was a toddler and later by the death of her beloved father.

Through the late 1960s, Capote claimed to be writing his masterpiece, his tour de force based on his swans, but several deadlines passed for it.

At 35, Hawa Hassan is already a tour de force when it comes to Somali food in America.

Understated yet opulent, measured, and intensely creepy, it’s a tour de force in balancing uncomfortable levels of tension and suspense with deep pathos.

Page’s tour de force performance in Hard Candy led, two years later, to Juno, a low-budget indie film that brought Page Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations and sudden megafame.

His family memoir, Sweet and Low, is a tour de force of reporting and memory—tender, curious, and exceptionally funny.

It is a tour de force of reporting: 13,000 words on a two-week deadline.

It's also a masterpiece of choreographed c--tery—Joffrey's final tour de force.

And, of course, she's best known for her ball-busting tour de force as Ed Helms's wife in The Hangover.

As a result, his version is a technical tour de force but a movie that never gets under your skin.

As a tour de force in the gentle art of lying, the snake-story is justly esteemed.

As a tour de force of geometrical imagination it would be difficult to parallel this hypothesis.

The physical tour de force, was one of those feats of agility in which Neb had been my instructor, ten years before.

If the Mastersingers was a little less successful as a work of art we should still have to regard it as an amazing tour de force.

The music for such incidents cannot be of the highest beauty; here we have one of the cases of a tour de force.

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On this page you'll find 39 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to tour de force, such as: accomplishment, achievement, attainment, chef-d'oeuvre, conquest, and deed.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

Synonyms of tour de force

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Thesaurus Definition of tour de force

Synonyms & Similar Words

  • achievement
  • performance
  • accomplishment

Thesaurus Entries Near tour de force

tourbillions

tour de force

Cite this Entry

“Tour de force.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tour%20de%20force. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024.

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Meaning of tour de force in English

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  • a feather in your cap idiom
  • a roaring success idiom
  • accomplishment
  • achievement
  • achievement test
  • have something to your credit idiom
  • have something under your belt idiom
  • secret sauce
  • sense of achievement
  • stratosphere

Examples of tour de force

Translations of tour de force.

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a person who only eats food produced or prepared in a way that does not harm the environment

World-famous and newfound fame (Collocations of ‘famous’ and ‘fame’)

World-famous and newfound fame (Collocations of ‘famous’ and ‘fame’)

un tour de force synonyme

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Definition of 'tour de force'

  • tour de force

IPA Pronunciation Guide

tour de force in American English

Tour de force in british english, examples of 'tour de force' in a sentence tour de force, browse alphabetically tour de force.

  • tour a site
  • tour company
  • tour d'horizon
  • tour destination
  • tour director
  • tour en l'air
  • All ENGLISH words that begin with 'T'

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Definition of tour de force noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

tour de force

  • a cinematic tour de force
  • It was described as a ‘literary tour de force’.

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tour de force noun

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What does the phrase tour de force mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the phrase tour de force . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the phrase tour de force ?

How is the phrase tour de force pronounced, british english, where does the phrase tour de force come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the phrase tour de force is in the 1800s.

OED's earliest evidence for tour de force is from 1802, in a letter by Lord Elgin.

tour de force is a borrowing from French.

Etymons: French tour .

Nearby entries

  • toupee, n. 1727–
  • toupeed, adj. 1847–
  • toupet, n. 1728–
  • toupeted, adj. 1903–
  • toupet-titmouse, n. 1785–
  • tour, n. c1320–
  • tour, v. 1746–
  • Tourangeau, n. & adj. 1883–
  • Tourangeois, adj. & n. 1857–
  • tourbillion | tourbillon, n. 1477–
  • tour de force, n. 1802–
  • Tour de France, n. 1922–
  • tour d'horizon, n. 1952–
  • tourelle, n. c1330–
  • tourer, n. 1927–
  • tourette, n.¹ 1881–
  • Tourette, n.² 1899–
  • Tourettism, n. 1981–
  • tourification, n. 1802–
  • tourify, v. 1820–
  • tourifying, adj. 1825–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, entry history for tour de force, n..

tour de force, n. was first published in 1913; not yet revised

tour de force, n. was last modified in July 2023

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

  • corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
  • new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into tour de force, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of tour de force, n. were published in:

OED First Edition (1913)

  • Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

  • View tour de force, n. in Second Edition

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Citation details

Factsheet for tour de force, n., browse entry.

IMAGES

  1. Tour de force synonyms that belongs to nouns

    un tour de force synonyme

  2. More 180 Tour de force Synonyms. Similar words for Tour de force

    un tour de force synonyme

  3. 4 Idioms About Tour De Force

    un tour de force synonyme

  4. Tour de force Meaning

    un tour de force synonyme

  5. 🔵 Tour de Force

    un tour de force synonyme

  6. tour de force

    un tour de force synonyme

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COMMENTS

  1. Tour de force : définition et synonyme de tour de force en français

    La définition de Tour de force dans le dictionnaire français de TV5MONDE. Découvrez également les synonymes de tour de force sur TV5MONDE.

  2. Définition de tour de force

    Locution nominale - français. tour de force \tuʁ də fɔʁs\ masculin (Figuré) Action dont la réussite est difficile.Ce tour de force me fit penser à cette scène d'un roman de Walter Scott, où Richard Cœur de lion et le roi Saladin s'exercent à couper des barres de fer et des oreillers. — (Théophile Gautier, Voyage en Espagne, 1840, édition Charpentier, 1859)

  3. tour de force

    tour de force \tuʁ də fɔʁs\ masculin (Sens figuré) Action dont la réussite est difficile.Ce tour de force me fit penser à cette scène d'un roman de Walter Scott, où Richard Cœur de lion et le roi Saladin s'exercent à couper des barres de fer et des oreillers. — (Théophile Gautier, Voyage en Espagne, 1840, édition Charpentier, 1859) Par un mystérieux tour de force, il avait ...

  4. Synonymes de tour de force en français

    Synonymes et analogies pour "tour de force" en français regroupés par sens. Traduction Context Correcteur Synonymes Conjugaison. ... Faire marcher une nouvelle machine, cela peut devenir un véritable tour de force pour toute l'équipe. Antonymes. crime. faute. Standard.

  5. Synonyme un tour de force

    nm. 1 pourtour de quelque chose. 2 petite promenade. 3 mouvement de rotation. 4 exercice, action exigeant de l'adresse, de la force, de la souplesse, etc. 5 trait d'habileté ou de ruse. 6 manière dont on exprime ses pensées, dont on voit ou on comprend les choses. 7 évolution de quelque chose (ça prend un mauvais tour)

  6. tour de force

    Traduction Context Correcteur Conjugaison Grammaire Synonymes Top 50 ... Leur mesure a été un tour de force... C'est un tour de force technique. Quel tour de force, hier. Le pianiste Alexander Melnikov ne recule pas devant un tel tour de force. Le vol de Superman est un tour de force.

  7. TOUR DE FORCE Definition & Usage Examples

    Tour de force definition: an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else; stroke of genius. See examples of TOUR DE FORCE used in a sentence.

  8. un tour de force translation in English

    un tour de force translation in French - English Reverso dictionary, see also 'tour d'horizon, tour de chant, tour de contrôle, quart de tour', examples, definition, conjugation

  9. TOUR DE FORCE : Synonymie de TOUR DE FORCE

    Police de caractères: Surligner les objets textuels Colorer les objets : Aucun Auteur d'exemple Code grammatical Construction Crochets Date d'exemple Définition Domaine technique Entrée Exemple Indicateur Mot vedette Plan de l'article Publication Source Synonyme/antonyme Syntagme Titre d'exemple

  10. tour de force

    Liste de synonymes pour tour de force. Dictionnaire Electronique des Synonymes (DES) Dernières Actualités : Lettres d'actualité n°21 (décembre 2023)--Lettres d'actualité n°20 (juillet 2023)-- Synthèse des lettres d'actualité n°1 à 19 (juillet 2023). Tapez l'unité lexicale recherchée puis cliquez sur Valider ou tapez sur Entrée (données à jour au 30 janvier 2024)

  11. Tour de force : signification et origine de l'expression

    Origine. Expression que l'on emploie pour parler d'un acte qui nous étonne, nous surprend et qui inspire le respect tant sa réussite est difficile. Elle revêt toujours une connotation très positive. Le mot tour est ici utilisé selon la même acception que dans l'expression tour de magie. Expression suivante : Tourner en eau de boudin.

  12. 21 Synonyms & Antonyms for TOUR-DE-FORCE

    Find 21 different ways to say TOUR-DE-FORCE, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.

  13. English translation of 'tour de force'

    English Translation of "TOUR DE FORCE" | The official Collins French-English Dictionary online. Over 100,000 English translations of French words and phrases.

  14. Tour de force Definition & Meaning

    tour de force: [noun] a feat or display of strength, skill, or ingenuity.

  15. TOUR DE FORCE definition

    TOUR DE FORCE meaning: 1. an achievement or performance that shows great skill and attracts admiration: 2. an achievement…. Learn more.

  16. TOUR DE FORCE Synonyms: 14 Similar Words

    Synonyms for TOUR DE FORCE: feat, deed, achievement, performance, stunt, exploit, number, success, trick, coup

  17. Tour de force

    tour de force: 1 n a masterly or brilliant feat Type of: effort , exploit , feat a notable achievement

  18. TOUR DE FORCE

    TOUR DE FORCE - Synonyms, related words and examples | Cambridge English Thesaurus

  19. TOUR DE FORCE

    TOUR DE FORCE definition: 1. an achievement or performance that shows great skill and attracts admiration: 2. an achievement…. Learn more.

  20. Definition of 'tour de force'

    1. an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else; stroke of genius. Herman Melville's Moby Dick was a tour de force. 2. a particularly adroit maneuver or technique in handling a difficult situation.

  21. tour-de-force noun

    Definition of tour-de-force noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

  22. tour de force, n. meanings, etymology and more

    See 'Meaning & use' for definition, usage, and quotation evidence. Entry status. ... Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into tour de force, n. in July 2023. Earlier versions of tour de force, n. were published in: OED First Edition (1913) Find out more; OED Second Edition (1989)