potent
adjective
Simple meaning
Possessing authority or influence.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pohtuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpoʊtənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Possessing authority or influence; persuasive, convincing.
of a male
Able to procreate.
Powerful; possessing power; effective.
Having a strong physiological or chemical effect
Possessing strong physical or chemical properties.
of a cell
Able to differentiate.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Possessing authority or influence; persuasive, convincing.
Used this way, potent is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use potent
- “The doctor prescribed a potent pain reliever for her severe back injury.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The inherent capacity for coming into being.
With a possibility of becoming actual.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.