Effect Definition Meaning

Effective typically describes things—such as policies, treatments, arguments, and techniques—that do what they are intended to do. People can also be described as effective when they accomplish what …

EFFECTIVE definition: 1. successful or achieving the results that you want: 2. (used about a treatment or drug) working…. Learn more.

The adjective effective describes things that are adequate to accomplish a purpose, or that produce the intended or expected result. But effective isn’t quite the same as effectual, efficacious, or efficient!

Definition of effective adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

When something such as a law or an agreement becomes effective, it begins officially to apply or be valid. The new rules will become effective in the next few days.

Effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient refer to that which is able to produce a (desired) effect. Effective is applied to that which has the power to, or which actually does, produce an effect: an effective …

Effective and efficient are often confused, but they have slightly different meanings. If you are effective, you do a job properly; if you are efficient, you do it quickly and easily.

Aug 28, 2025 · Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary from 1913 lists efficient and effective as synonyms, but all major dictionaries now show that these words now only have different meanings in …

Effectiveness or effectivity[1] is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected …

The adjective effective has many shades of meaning, but you'll usually see it describing something that's able to produce a desired goal. Effective traces back to the Latin word effectivus, from efficere, …