I guess I'll better rewrite that document then :) Thanks!

While you're at it, you might rephrase "performs good".

@TimLymington: I must say "performs good" sounds pretty odd to my ear. The standard expression is "performs well".

@RGW1976: Yet there are nearly twelve thousand results on Google Scholar after a crude attempt at filtering for English: scholar.google.com/… - so when does it become "a word"?

What would be a recommended replacement for performant in a technical context?

Performing good is something a paladin might do. He or she might even perform good well.

Another example of usage for performant would be, "I am attempting to make this program more performant." It sounds more intelligent than, "I am attempting to make this program perform better." I think the extensive usage of the (non-)word inherently makes it a word, whether or not the dictionary authors/editors choose to include it. It follows a basic premise of communication and language in that both parties tend to have the same concept of its meaning.

@ewwhite - in a technical context you could define what aspect of performance you are addressing. Terms related to speed, efficiency, resource usage and responsiveness.

It seems Google now includes "performant" as a definition: google.com/search?q=define+performant&oq=define+performant

The fastest way to code something is often not the most performant way to do so.

Yup. I'm not always comparing performance to a reference point either. Sometimes I just want to say "performs acceptably". Not perform "well" because "well" isn't descriptive enough. That's a mouthful though so I think the case can be made for "performant" as a word.

Does it really not appear in the dictionary? I thought performant existed as a legal term used in contracts... but that might be borrowed from the French rather than being a real English word. Any ideas about this? In any case: I completely agree that it's not a real word when used to describe something that performs.

In the world of game and software development, I see the word everywhere. I feel that it's more than qualified to be a word and just because common dictionaries don't choose to include it should not make anyone try to use a different word in its place. It's used a lot more than some of the more obscure words that nobody's ever heard and which you'll find in a dictionary.

"I would tend to avoid using it until the word becomes, well...a word." -- it won't become a word if it is avoided.

@JimBalter I think you are "righterer"

"The more data that can be collected, the more performant and reliable the resulting model will be." I can't see how this can be rephrased to use any of your suggestions. I could say "the better and more reliable the resulting model will be," but reliable can be considered better, so that phrase would appear to be redundant. I could have also used "the more accurate and reliable the resulting model will be," but accuracy is not necessarily the same as performance in this context.

Though, "doesn't appear in the Dictionary" is no longer a valid argument. t.co/B8YqsMWK9a

Clearly, "performant" does appear in many dictionaries. It means one who is a "performer".

@gregsdennis - just because a word makes you sound more intelligent, doesn't actually make you more intelligent. I fully understand the implication of "performant" but I immediately think the speaker is a moron for using a term that actually means "one who performs", when they are attempting to convey, typically, "good performance."

I'm a computer professional, and I use the word "performant" quite a bit, but only to illustrate a comparison to something else that could be considered less performant. In other words, it makes no sense just to call something "performant". It only makes sense to say that it is "more performant" than this other thing, whatever that happens to be. The opposite of "performant" would be "sluggish".

@JimBalter, Yes! And use it, I do. Also, in the software realm, this word is so common place and effective in this context that I would not recommend avoiding it. See David Schwartz's answer

@MaxVernon The suffix -ant has several meanings. Its origins are in the Latin present participle, which—like Latin participles in general—can be used both adjectivally and nominally. Performant is simply a Latinate way of saying ‘performing’, whether adjectivally (performing software = software that performs) or nominally (a performing [one] = someone who performs); two sides of the same coin. The fact that only one of these is traditionally listed in dictionaries is irrelevant. Compare deviant, where both types are well-established words.

@gregsdennis: I disagree with the following: "'I am attempting to make this program more performant.' It sounds more intelligent than, 'I am attempting to make this program perform better."' Both sentences are mostly devoid of content. Without specifying performance criteria, one relies heavily on the assumptions of the listener (which never align with the speaker). If you ask yourself, "why does it sound odd to hear the former," the answer may be "because that's an ambiguous phrase conveying very little". Distracting from this with jargon is not advisable, in spite of its ubiquity.

@threed "fills a hole ... not supplied by an existing word because the exact concept did not exist until recently". I don't see it. To my mind "x performs well" means the same as "x is performant", with the advantage that I have a verb and not a dull "is" followed by a jargony (and to my mind pretentious) adjective. Please enlighten me - what's the new concept?

@ConcreteGannet The concept between "x performs well" and "x is performant" is the same. The new concept I'm referring to is the performance of software. It is in this field that I have heard this word used so frequently, probably because there isn't a good, common adjective for describing this. I'm not surprised that the word sounds pretentious--jargon within a particular field often does; still, within the field, it is very useful. It's inconvenient and awkward to always have to phrase things using a verb.

@gregsdennis: Yes many of us hate this word because it "sounds intelligent". It's an imprecise word people use to sound more intelligent than they are. When they're talking to more intelligent people that doesn't work. We just think they don't actually know what is better about the thing they're using it to describe. The worst kind of buzzword.

@threed: I doubt that it's common in computer science. It's definitely common in IT more generally. It does not fill a hole, it blurs several concepts, which is the very opposite. Technical jargon comes about to add precise terms where existing terms are too vague. This is some kind of anti-jargon that provides a vague term when the user doesn't know what they're describing to use an existing technical term. It is how new words come about. Good words and bad words. This word is not good. It performs very badly at communication. It is not performant.

I've worked in computer science for over a decade and studied the subject at a university. In both environments this word was commonly used and accepted by professors and long-time computer scientists. Perhaps the confusion comes from business people using the term in a less precise way (see here: techopedia.com/definition/28231/performant). This "business" usage may be what the non-computer scientists in this forum have experienced. For anyone else who is wondering, be assured that in computer science this is a technical word with a precise meaning, whatever it may mean elsewhere.

This answer is obsolete. The word now appears in dictionaries and google searches and is in common use in the software workplace. dictionary.com/browse/performant dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/performant performantcorp.com

I believe this question deserves an update. 'Performant' is listed in both the OED and Cambridge Dictionary, and I know from experience it is a pretty common word in the tech sector. I would post a new answer, but the protected status is preventing me from doing so (association bonus doesn't count...).