Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Superior skill or ability.
- n. Superior strength, courage, or daring, especially in battle.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Excellence; virtue; goodness; integrity.
- n. Bravery; valor; particularly, military bravery combined with skill; gallantry; daring.
- n. A feat or deed of valor; a valiant act.
Wiktionary
- n. Skillfulness and manual ability; adroitness or dexterity.
- n. Distinguished bravery or courage, especially in battle; heroism
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Distinguished bravery; valor; especially, military bravery and skill; gallantry; intrepidity; fearlessness.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation
Etymologies
- From Old French proeche (Modern French: prouesse) (Wiktionary)
- Middle English prowesse, from Old French proesse, from prud, prou, brave; see proud. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Even in the middle of their bloodstained feudal period, in the year 597 B. C.-forty-six years before Confucius was born-Prince Chuang of the State of Ch'u, proclaimed: "The ideograph for 'prowess' is made up of the signs 'to stay' and a 'Spear' -- in other words, the cessation of hostilities.”
“Are we supposed to believe that defensive prowess is making up the difference?”
“While it won't be clear until Election Day, the state Democratic Party's fundraising prowess is expected to give it a significant edge in organizing and capitalizing on its early-voting effort.”
The Washington Post: Parties rev up political machinery in Maryland to boost early voting turnout
“And Iott's and the Wikings 'whitewashed account of their military prowess is beyond absurd.”
The Washington Post: Rich Iott -- a Nazi bit of reenacting work
“There was more, but what the world will remember is: "Andrew's prowess is legendary.”
The Huffington Post: Dan Collins: Carl Paladino Likes It Hot
“His sees convictions confirmed when he, too, falls prey to polio and athletic prowess is forever stripped from him.”
The Huffington Post: David Finkle: Easy Reader: Philip Roth's Nemesis an Instant Classic
“An investment manager's prowess is often measured using two Greek letters, beta and alpha.”
“Another impressive display of American technological prowess is at hand, but you'd hardly know it, so bitter the debate over the nation's impending political path.”
Forbes: The Great New Bull Market In Aerospace And Industrials
“That was our most recent election news cycle, following the one in which Paladino bought time to tell us that when it came to sex, Cuomo's "prowess is legendary.”
The Huffington Post: Dan Collins: Carl Paladino Is a Democratic Plant
“Even so, apply it to a character like The Mentalist (CBS, 9 ET/PT), a man whose prowess is built upon his powers of observation, and it does offer more potential than the sweeps norm.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘prowess’.
-
EN - fine scholarly language
exhort, accretion, twenty-nine, atrophy, additive, brilliantly, interreligious, empiricism, pathologic, limitless, half-century, vigilant and 488 more...
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
-
Words starting with PRO
I've noticed many, many words start with PRO and this is just a collection of them.
professional, pronunciation, Prolagus, probable, prog, proximity, profit, procrastincate, prom, pronoun, promise, proactive and 206 more...
-
WOOZ
Words contained in the screenplay of Wizard of Oz, 1939 film.
Comments show the actual "line" from the film.
The words are tagged for grade-levelpusillanimous, genuflect, cataclysmic, vernacular, peasantry, aver, caliginous, tedious, advent, careworn, bovine, commodity and 34 more...
-
Lesson 15
complement, component, conjure, emphasize, homage, impromptu, lush, medley, oblige, pretentious, prowess, rustic and 3 more...
-
15
complement, component, conjure, emphasize, homage, impromptu, lush, medley, oblige, pretentious, prowess, rustic and 3 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
-
MiaLuthien's list ♥
gambit, prehensile, coquetry, impunity, genuflect, ensconce, clavicle, delude, beget, castigate, life caching, convoluted and 478 more...
-
(more or less) Temporary Urth List
Temporary list is temporary.
Collecting a few words here, which are then to be alloted to other lists.vassal, gnaw, putrescence, liege, pederasty, disseminate, loot, waning, fitful, hiatuse, plow, pious and 292 more...
-
Personal Vocabulary List
All my favourite words that I come across!
veritable, incongruence, rigamorole, letcherous, revolting, repulsive, reputrid, rapatious, forays, guise, placate, paradigm and 1162 more...
-
Words to Learn
colloquium, resilient, ruminate, missive, sylvan, indefatigable, preclude, prowess, quiescent, caustic, verdant, specter and 119 more...
-
List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
-
newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
-
English
rewarding, wit, landmark, core, soar, drop, plunge, plummet, dive, level off, rocket, peak and 110 more...
-
Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
-
ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for prowess.
dbekeny sings)
Yeh, it's sad, believe me, Missy
When you're born to be a sissy,
Without the vim and verve.
But I could show my prowess --
Be a lion not a mou-ess --
If I only had the nerve
I'm afraid there's no denyin'
I'm just a dande-lion --
A fate I don't deserve.
I'd be brave as a blizzard --
Jun 11, 2010
rolig A curious word this. If one did not know what it meant, one might think it referred to a female "prow", along the lines of authoress, poetess, mayoress, etc. I like that, while it suggests femininity (though I know that the -ess suffix means something else here, along the lines of duress), it refers to skill and expertise. Sep 5, 2008
yarb When even sex has ceased to be sensation
he calls his marriage
mutual consolation
and, lying with his wife
without prowess,
he calls the appalling sheets
a wilderness.
- Peter Reading, Nomenclator, from For the Municipality's Elderly, 1974 Jun 22, 2008