exert
Americanverb (used with object)
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exerts,
present (3rd person singular)
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exerted,
past participle, past
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exerting
present participle
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to put forth or into use, as power; exercise, as ability or influence; put into vigorous action.
to exert every effort.
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to put (oneself ) into strenuous, vigorous action or effort.
verb
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to use (influence, authority, etc) forcefully or effectively
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to apply (oneself) diligently; make a strenuous effort
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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exertionnoun
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superexertverb (used with object)
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exertiveadjective
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nonexertiveadjective
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unexertedadjective
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well-exertedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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exertsimple
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exertssimple
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have exertedperfect
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has exertedperfect
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am exertingprogressive
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are exertingprogressive
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is exertingprogressive
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have been exertingperfect progressive
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has been exertingperfect progressive
Past
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exertedsimple
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had exertedperfect
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was exertingprogressive
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were exertingprogressive
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had been exertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exert
First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin ex(s)ertus, past participle of exserere “to thrust out,” from ex- ex- 1 + serere “to connect, join together”
Explanation
Exert basically means to put forth effort to do something. For example, when you exert yourself in a workout, you can really feel the burn in your muscles. The Latin verb exserere — with its derivative form exsertus, which is the source of our word — means to "put forth." That's where exert gets its meaning of physical force — consider that when you try hard at something, you put forth effort to do it, you push yourself. But exert can refer to other ways you "push": you exert your influence to convince others to think your way; when one nation exerts its power on another; and gravity exerts its force on us, holding us down on earth.
Vocabulary lists containing exert
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Farther above, at altitudes of several hundred kilometers, traces of Earth's upper atmosphere can still exert enough drag to slow satellites.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
They exert an outsize role in determining mortgage-underwriting standards, and they are using that power to get condos, many of which are growing old, to set aside more money for physical upkeep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Clarke said that in pursuing his claim, Winehouse had "deliberately turned this case into large-scale and expensive litigation, in circumstances calculated to exert commercial pressure on the defendants to settle on his terms".
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Unlike short-term rates, the Fed can’t directly exert control over the U.S. dollar.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Yet there was one area in which she failed to exert any influence on me: religion.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
The inflation tracker that exerts the biggest influence on the actions of the Federal Reserve is getting a makeover just as a divided central bank weighs whether to raise U.S. interest rates this fall.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
But as Iran exerts gatekeeping power, analysts at Lloyd’s List Intelligence say vessels are now transiting a channel between Larak and Qeshm, and hugging the Iranian coast as they head to open seas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
Here, Beethoven exerts a compulsion for triumphant glory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
To determine how GPLD1 exerts its effects, the team focused on what the enzyme does best.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2026
As John Michell pointed out in his pioneering paper in 1783, a black hole still exerts a gravitational force on nearby objects.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
That stands in contrast to President Xi, who has exerted greater central control and pressed a state-driven economic policy focused on technological autonomy and strategic industries.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
The Quaker-inspired coalition also founded New York’s Strother School of Radical Attention, which offers courses and workshops on attention as a practice that, maintained and exerted, makes it easier to recognize and refuse such extraction.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
According to anonymous sources quoted by the Financial Times, other directors viewed Manifold as too aggressive and believed he exerted excessive control over the company.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
“Change” exerted on another through force robs the receiving party of the dignity of authoring their own life path.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
So great was the power that Saruman exerted in this last effort that none that stood within hearing were unmoved.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
The franc’s strength over the past several months is likely exerting downward price pressure on some goods imports, counteracting the effects of higher energy prices, they said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Anthropic and OpenAI will join SpaceX at the US mega-corp top table – exerting hitherto unseen power and influence across the globe and unprecedented dominion over its citizens if its champions are to be believed.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
Also exerting influence in recent elections has been the district’s other largest union: Local 99 of Service Employees International Union.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
"It will take a long time before such economic pain forces Iran to compromise," Ingram said, explaining it is "more likely economic disruption... pushes China into exerting more pressure on Iran to negotiate".
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
He gripped my jacket with a force I wouldn't have imagined he was capable of exerting.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
