force·ful

(fôrs′fəl)

adj.

Characterized by or full of force; effective: was persuaded by the forceful speaker to register to vote; enacted forceful measures to reduce drug abuse.

force′ful·ly adv.

force′ful·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

forcefulness

The following words can all be used to describe a person who speaks and acts in a strong, determined, and confident way:

aggressive	assertive	domineering	forceful	in-your-face
overbearing	positive	pushy	self-confident	strong-willed
tyrannical

1. complimentary words

Assertive, forceful, positive, self-confident, and strong-willed are complimentary words.

Women have become more assertive in the past decade.

He was a man of forceful character, with considerable insight and diplomatic skills.

She'd blossomed into a self-confident young woman.

2. negative words

Aggressive, domineering, in-your-face, overbearing, pushy, and tyrannical are used to show disapproval of someone's behaviour. Pushy is used mainly in conversation.

Many of her women friends also had domineering husbands.

Teddy abandoned subtlety and tried the in-your-face approach.

We worry about being pushy parents.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

forcefulness - physical energy or intensity; "he hit with all the force he could muster"; "it was destroyed by the strength of the gale"; "a government has not the vitality and forcefulness of a living man"

force, strength

brunt - main force of a blow etc; "bore the brunt of the attack"

momentum, impulse - an impelling force or strength; "the car's momentum carried it off the road"

vigor, vigour, energy, zip - forceful exertion; "he plays tennis with great energy"; "he's full of zip"

intensiveness, intensity - high level or degree; the property of being intense

forcefulness

noun

The capacity to exert an influence:

force, magnetism, power.

Translations

forcefulness

[ˈfɔːsfʊlnɪs] N [of person] → fortaleza f; [of argument] → contundencia f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

forcefulness

[ˈfɔː^rsfʊlnɪs] n [character] → détermination f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

forcefulness

(of kick, punch) → Wucht f

(= vigour, of person, manner, action, intervention) → energische or entschlossene Art; (of character, personality) → Stärke f; (of rejection, criticism, denial) → Entschiedenheit f; (of speech, statement, language, style) → Eindringlichkeit f; (of argument, = strength) → Eindringlichkeit f; (= conviction) → Überzeugungskraft f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

forcefulness

[ˈfɔːsfʊlnɪs] n → forza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Dryden's vigorous instincts largely saved him from this fault; by skilful variations in accents and pauses and by terse forcefulness of expression he gave the couplet firmness as well as smoothness.

View in context

But Saxon had no eyes for the love-making, the pleading forcefulness, the shy reluctance, of man and maid.

View in context

And the fish-like shoal of great airships hovering light and sunlit above, filling the sky, seemed equally remote from the ugly forcefulness of war.

View in context

"We have to match that hunger and earn the right to play and then really play with purpose and a forcefulness."

Hoops trio return as Lennon plots way to hurt Cluj

D'Astice has a clear vision for the city's future and the necessary experience, forcefulness and collaborative skill to get the council working together on Rolling Meadows' behalf.

For Rolling Meadows mayor: D'Astice

He said that the government took the country to the brink of destruction, because their mission was to rob the country and make Imran Khan prime minister, and all these passions have now been completed, but the way these people fooled the public by showing green garden and securing power by forcefulness, do not let them go without accountability.

PTI's Government broken all inflation records, P.Y.O

The body language says it all; there is a steely glint in his eye, a forcefulness in his fists, the legs though buckling are muscle taut, and you know, oh yes, you know that your hero is not going to let you down.

Dare to get up..!

The Americans caught up very rapidly due to the forcefulness of General Hap Arnold, rapid response of industry (particularly General Electric), and Kelly Johnson's unmatched engineering and management skills.

The Jet Race and the Second World War

There were offers from the Premier League, but the team that moved with more forcefulness was AC Milan: the Rossonerian team looks for a profile with their international experience as Reina has just become the fourth player with more European appearances with a club, 165 games, behind Casillas, Maldini and Xavi.

Reina's future may be out of Napoli

There was obviously some sensitivity to the forcefulness of it, but frankly, I wasn't surprised by the forcefulness of it, because I know the prime minister's strong views on this and his lived experience."

Sleeping with your staff is bad practice, Scott Morrisson says

The all-caps font gives the messages an unapologetic forcefulness and urgency.

Gibson, Andrea. Take Me with You