strive
Americanverb (used without object)
-
strives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strived,
past participle, past
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strove,
past
-
striven,
past participle
-
striving
present participle
-
to exert oneself vigorously; try hard.
He strove to make himself understood.
-
to make strenuous efforts toward any goal.
to strive for success.
- Synonyms:
- toil
-
to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict; compete.
-
to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance.
to strive against fate.
-
to rival; vie.
verb
-
(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to make a great and tenacious effort
to strive to get promotion
-
(intr) to fight; contend
Synonym Usage
See try.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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strivernoun
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outstriveverb (used with object)
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interstriveverb (used without object)
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overstriveverb (used without object)
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restriveverb (used without object)
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
strivesimple
-
strivessimple
-
have strivedperfect
-
have strivenperfect
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has strivedperfect
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has strivenperfect
-
am strivingprogressive
-
are strivingprogressive
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is strivingprogressive
-
have been strivingperfect progressive
-
has been strivingperfect progressive
Past
-
strivedsimple
-
strovesimple
-
had strivedperfect
-
had strivenperfect
-
was strivingprogressive
-
were strivingprogressive
-
had been strivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of strive
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English striven from Old French estriver “to quarrel, compete, strive” from Germanic; compare obsolete Dutch strijven, German streben “to strive”
Explanation
To strive is to endeavor, reach, or strain for something above or beyond. We strive for self-improvement, a better world, or success in general. The Old French origin of this word, estriver ("quarrel," "dispute"), had its 800th birthday not too long ago. Though it shares its roots with strife ("conflict"), it changed over the years (centuries, actually) to describe something more like a conflict with oneself, the attempt to overcome limitations and stay focused on a goal, regardless of whatever quarrels or disputes come up.
Vocabulary lists containing strive
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
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"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman
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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:
Posting on X, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said: "We must strive to compel the enemy to remain committed to what it has signed."
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
For the rest of the war, the camp stands as an oasis of international harmony that Ernst will strive to re-create for the rest of his adventure-filled life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
“The bar is set high and I’m going to strive to reach that bar and raise it even higher.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
The university’s schools strive to offer all students a quality education, according to Ames.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
To-night I shall strive hard to sleep naturally.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Still, he strives, with Sisyphean defiance, to break free.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Those who know him well - or covered his playing career for many years - will describe him as a curious person who strives to do everything to the best of his ability.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
"We will also have to close some programmes," he added, saying "output with the highest audience value and impact" would be prioritised as the BBC strives to be "simpler and faster".
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
A promise for what this country strives to stand for.
From Slate ● May 22, 2026
“A town that strives to make such a good first impression must surely be a friendly place,” she thought.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
"Pakistan has always strived for maintaining peace and stability in the region, but at the same time the safety and security of our citizens remains our top priority," Tarar said.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Gellar also praised their fans for allowing them to enjoy a very private life at home with their children, noting that they have always strived to keep their more intimate family life behind closed doors.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
Rutte, who has strived to remain on good terms with Trump, plans to give a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Institute in Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
But last July, the government said it had been informed by the US defense department that the deliveries to Switzerland would be delayed as Washington strived to provide more support for Ukraine.
From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026
She strived to maintain a link with outside reform work to avoid being “wholly absorbed in a narrow family selfishness.”
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
SKW posted losses three years in a row as the country strove to wean itself off cheap Russian energy supplies.
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
In the era of high-risk high-reward batting, where contributions were not measured in milestones, Samson became the folk hero who strove only for high impact and was rewarded with consistency by the cricketing gods.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
Silverblatt said he strove to read an author’s entire body of work, but he never claimed to have read it all if he hadn’t.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2026
Less attention has been paid to the ways in which enslaved people strove for emancipation through acts of resistance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026
It seemed only natural to him that such a place would have formed his principled fiancée, who always strove for perfection, and he gladly followed her back to Shaker Heights after graduation.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
He has striven to place Cohere as a sovereign alternative in both the European and Asian markets.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Good fellowship was, if not assumed, then striven for.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
Under authoritarian leader and ardent nationalist Xi Jinping, the government has striven to assert China’s power in international affairs, including through culture and language.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
While California lawmakers have striven to balance the need to support the cryptocurrency industry and protect consumers, recent legislation has hewed toward tighter state regulation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2023
I know only that I wished to recount it, and to speak of those whom I have known and who have striven for virtue and have perished.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
In fact, Americans of all ages, backgrounds and incomes are striving for a better life, but say the rising cost of living prevents them from their aspirations, the researchers found.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
To children, “Spirited Away” is about a little girl striving to find a way back home, a premise as familiar as “The Wizard of Oz.”
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
The chain’s operations chief will take over as CEO of the world’s biggest pizza company, which is striving to reinvigorate sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Developers are striving to achieve fault tolerance by the end of the decade, which means building a machine that can run smoothly even when its individual parts fail or experience disruption.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
As if striving to say something even less helpful, New York’s top civil defense official said, “As far as shelters for the majority of our citizens is concerned—of course, we don’t have any.”
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
