Meaning & use
peak performance
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The best level of ability or output that a person, team or machine can reach.
Grammar: Often follows reach or achieve: athletes reach peak performance.
Patterns
- reach peak performance
- at peak performance
The cyclist reached peak performance just in time for the final stage.
Sleep and good food help staff keep their peak performance all day.
The engine runs at peak performance when the oil is changed regularly.
nouncountable
A single outstanding performance, such as a concert or a match, that is the best someone has given.
Grammar: Takes an article when it means one event: a peak performance.
Patterns
- a peak performance by someone
Her solo was a peak performance in an otherwise ordinary evening.
The goalkeeper delivered a peak performance in the semifinal.
That match was a peak performance from the young team.
Common combinations
- reach peak performance
- Swimmers try to reach peak performance at the championships.
- perform at peak performance
- The server must perform at peak performance during sales.
- maintain peak performance
- Regular rest helps maintain peak performance.
- peak performance level
- The team is at a peak performance level this season.
- optimize peak performance
- Coaches use data to optimize peak performance.
Synonyms and how they differ
- best form
- Best form is more natural for athletes and sounds more casual than peak performance.
- optimal performance
- Optimal performance means the most efficient result under given conditions, not necessarily the highest level ever reached.
- prime
- Prime describes the best period of a life or career, while peak performance describes the quality of the output.
- top form
- Top form is a looser, spoken expression and rarely used for machines.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: peak performance or peek?
peak performance vs peek
Peek means a quick look, and pique means annoyance or interest; neither is the highest point called a peak.
Practice
The marathon runner trained for months to be at ______ on race day.
Choose one answer.
Peak performance is the correct noun phrase for the best level. Peek and pique are different words, and peak perform is not grammatical here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “peak performance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.