performance
/pəˈfɔːm(ə)ns
/noun
1An act of presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment: Don Giovanni had its first performance in 1787...
- It is dedicated to presenting concerts and performances with a meaning.
- The show follows the traditional plot of the fairytale story but with plenty of comedy and slapstick to keep the crowds entertained for both evening and matinee performances.
- There, pageants and performances could be presented against the authentic background of Clifford's Tower and the Castle Museum buildings.
Synonyms
show, production, showing, presentation, entertainment, staging, act;
concert, recital;
British house
informal gig
1.1An act of performing a dramatic role, song, or piece of music: Bailey gives a sound performance as the doctor...
- Highly stylized dramatic performances were accompanied by music.
- It also includes songs and live music performances, although the core of the show is still the Irish folk dance.
- I would like to thank the young people who worked to put on a wonderful performance of Sound of Music at the Wyvern.
Synonyms
rendition, rendering, interpretation, account, playing, acting, representation, staging
1.2 informal, chiefly British A display of exaggerated behaviour or a process involving a great deal of unnecessary time and effort; a fuss: he stopped to fasten his shoelace and seemed to be making quite a performance of it
Synonyms
fuss, fuss and bother, production, palaver, parade, scene, display, exhibition
informal song and dance, to-do, hoo-ha, ballyhoo, business, pantomime, hoopla
British informal carry-on
New Zealand informal bobsy-die
2 [mass noun] The action or process of performing a task or function: the continual performance of a single task reduces a man to the level of a machine...
- Judicial immunity promotes independence by allowing the fearless performance of the judicial function.
- It is addressing a different realm of discourse, namely, performance of judicial functions.
- How do you say it impairs their performance of their functions as judges?
Synonyms
carrying out, execution, discharge, conducting, conduct, effecting, accomplishment, achievement, completion, fulfilment, dispatch, implementation
rare effectuation
2.1A task or operation seen in terms of how successfully it is performed: pay increases are now being linked more closely to performance [count noun]: it was a tremendous all-round performance by Wigan...
- Can the people afford to trust the group with its record of failure in terms of performance and financial management?
- Dublin remains a divided city in terms of academic performance.
- I will measure performance in terms of achievement at the top line taking into account how much money we put behind the brands.
2.2The capabilities of a machine, product, or vehicle: the hardware is put through tests which assess the performance of the processor [as modifier]: a performance car...
- Not if you were raised on a steady diet of hot rods, muscle cars and performance vehicles.
- The machines sharing the work usually come to have different performance capabilities.
- The operator can notice changes in machine performance and handling to some degree.
Synonyms
functioning, working, operation, running, behaviour, capabilities, capability, capacity, power, potential
2.3 (also linguistic performance) Linguistics An individual’s use of a language, i.e. what a speaker actually says, including hesitations, false starts, and errors. Often contrasted with competence.The notion is intended to replace his dichotomy of competence and performance.
