Stronger

How to spell stronger

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce stronger

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does stronger mean?

1. adjectiveHaving more strength, force, or intensity than something else being compared.

Stronger in a sentence

• After months of training her grip was much stronger than before.

• The new adhesive proved stronger than the brand we used last year.

Where does stronger come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the comparative form of the adjective 'strong', a thoroughly native English word that descends from the Old English 'strang', meaning 'powerful, firm, or vigorous'. That word traces back through the Proto-Germanic root 'strangaz', which carried the sense of 'tight, taut, or stiff', a relative of words found across the Germanic languages, including German 'streng' meaning 'strict' or 'severe'. The comparative was formed in the regular Germanic way by adding the suffix '-er', which English still uses to grade adjectives, as in 'faster' and 'longer'. The spelling keeps the silent root letters of 'strong' intact, so the only thing the writer adds is '-er'. In speech the extra 'g' sound surfaces (it is pronounced 'strong-ger'), but no extra 'g' is written, and that is the small mismatch worth remembering.

How the word is built

• strong (root adjective)
• -er (comparative suffix)