effort

American  

[ef-ert] / ˈɛf ərt /

noun

1. exertion of physical or mental power.

   It will take great effort to achieve victory.

   Synonyms:

   striving, struggle

2. an earnest or strenuous attempt.

   an effort to keep to the schedule.

3. something done by exertion or hard work.

   I thought it would be easy, but it was an effort.

4. an achievement, as in literature or art.

   The painting is one of his finest efforts.

5. the amount of exertion expended for a specified purpose.

   the war effort.

6. Chiefly British.

   1. an organized community drive or achievement.

   2. a fund-raising drive.

7. Mechanics. the force or energy that is applied to a machine for the accomplishment of useful work.

---

effort British  

/ ˈɛfət /

noun

1. physical or mental exertion, usually considerable when unqualified

   the rock was moved with effort

2. a determined attempt

   our effort to save him failed

3. achievement; creation

   a great literary effort

4. physics an applied force acting against inertia

---

effort Scientific  

/ ĕf′ərt /

1. Force applied against inertia.

2. The force needed by a machine in order to accomplish work on a load.

3. Compare load

---

effort Idioms  

1. see all out (effort); last-ditch effort.

---

Synonym Usage

Effort, application, endeavor, exertion imply actions directed or force expended toward a definite end. Effort is an expenditure of energy to accomplish some objective: He made an effort to control himself. Application is continuous effort plus careful attention: constant application to duties. Endeavor means a continued and sustained series of efforts to achieve some, often worthy and difficult, end: a constant endeavor to be useful. Exertion is the vigorous and often strenuous expenditure of energy, frequently without an end: out of breath from exertion.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• countereffort
  noun
• effortful
  adjective
• preeffort
  noun
• overeffort
  noun

Etymology

Origin of effort

First recorded in 1480–90; from Middle French, from Old French esfort, esforz, derivative of esforcier “to force” ( es- ex- ¹ + forcier force )

Explanation

Effort has to do with how much work you're putting into something. A great achievement can also be considered a great effort. Effort has to do with how hard you're trying. If something is easy, it doesn't take much effort. If it's hard, it takes a lot of effort. Effort is about trying to get something done, even if it doesn't always work out. In sports, coaches don't like losing, but they really hate it when the players aren't giving much effort. There are also large scale, collective efforts, like the effort to cure cancer.

Example Sentences

Residents here are worried this could slow the effort to bring them clean water.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026

The criminal probe was a significant escalation in the yearslong effort to police serial pollution offenses by Virginia-based Southern Coal and dozens of affiliated mining operations controlled by the family.

From Salon • Jun. 10, 2026

An effort in San Francisco to raise taxes on companies with highly paid executives has failed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

High rocket-launch costs have historically been the key barrier to entry, and SpaceX has led the effort to make it cheaper to get into orbit with its Falcon 9.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

She had never seen anything like it, this many sheydim walking openly outside of Gehinnom, making no effort to disguise their feet or their true natures.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Related Words

• achievement
• attempt
• battle
• creation
• endeavor
• exercise
• force
• industry
• intention
• power
• production
• push
• resolution
• struggle
• training