effects
Americanplural noun
plural noun
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Also called: personal effects. personal property or belongings
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lighting, sounds, etc, to accompany and enhance a stage, film, or broadcast production
Synonym Usage
See property.
Etymology
Origin of effects
Plural of effect
Explanation
Effects are portable personal property not used for business. We most often hear this word in reference to one's "personal effects." The noun effects was first used in 1704 to mean "goods and property." It's your personal stuff, like keys, fine china collection, watch, car, or earrings. "Personal effects" is a phrase often associated with a last will and testament, when someone bequeaths certain items (or items in general) to someone else, but it can also refer to the belongings you remove from your pockets and fork over when you go to jail (which you'll then get back when you leave).
Vocabulary lists containing effects
The Bill of Rights
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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Girl in the Blue Coat
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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.
My wife Becky told me any medication has side effects.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
This type of virtual production was used to film more than half of the first season of the show, eliminating location shoots and capturing complicated visual effects.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
By comparing highly curved wrinkles with nearby areas of flat graphene, the researchers were able to separate the electrical effects produced by curvature from other possible influences.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
That said, they're not cheap, they can have side effects - some serious - and they may not mix well with some medications.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Finally, assign a narrator, speaking or acting parts, and along with your instruments and sound effects, you have a complete performance that incorporates music composition and creativity along with language arts and theater.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
