Potent definition

pōtnt
Having authority or power; mighty; influential.

A potent monarch.

adjective
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2
Effective or powerful in action, as a drug or drink.
adjective
7
3
Able to have an erection and hence to engage in sexual intercourse.
adjective
3
1
Convincing; cogent.

A potent argument.

adjective
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0
Having a sharp or offensive taste.
adjective
2
0
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(of a male) Able to procreate.
adjective
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adjective
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(heraldry) A heraldic fur formed by a regular tessellation of blue and white T shapes.
noun
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0
Possessing inner or physical strength; powerful.
adjective
2
1
Having great control or authority.
adjective
2
1
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The definition of potent is something or someone with great power, authority or effect.

An example of something that would be described as potent is a powerful weapon that can defeat the enemy.

adjective
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Exerting or capable of exerting strong physiological or chemical effects.
adjective
1
0
Able to achieve and maintain an erection that allows for sexual intercourse. Used of a male.
adjective
1
0
Possessing strength.

A potent argument.

adjective
1
0
Being effective in small quantities.

A potent medicine.

adjective
1
0
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Able to achieve and maintain an erection that allows for sexual intercourse. Used of a male.
adjective
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Exerting or capable of exerting strong physiological or chemical effects.

Potent liquor; a potent toxin.

adjective
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0
Exerting or capable of exerting strong influence; cogent.

Potent arguments.

adjective
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
potent
Plural:
potents

Origin of potent

  • Middle English from Latin potēns potent- present participle of posse to be able poti- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin potens (“powerful, strong, potent"), present participle of posse (“to be able"), from potis (“able, powerful, originally a lord, master").

    From Wiktionary

Potent Sentence Examples

  • The belief exercises a potent moral influence.

  • Too aware of him, she tensed as he crouched beside her, the scent too potent to be a dream.

  • The extent and glamour of his empire exercised a potent spell on western Europe.

  • If he could get potent drugs to cure disease he was content, and he worked very hard in an empirical way to make them.

  • It is a singular circumstance that reciprocal crosses are not always or even often possible; thus, one rhododendron may afford pollen perfectly potent on the stigma of another kind, by the pollen of which latter its own stigma is unaffected.

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Words near potent in the Dictionary