cause-and-effect
Americanadjective
Usage
What does cause-and-effect mean? Cause-and-effect describes a relationship between actions or events in which at least one action or event is a direct result of the others. Let’s say that you slam your toe into a desk and then yell in pain. Slamming your toe (the first action) hurts, so you yell (the second action). The first action is the cause of the second action, that is, the effect. A cause is a source or producer of effects. An effect is the result or consequence of a cause. The two actions have a cause-and-effect relationship. A cause-and-effect relationship can have multiple causes and one effect, as when you stay up all night and skip breakfast (the causes), you will likely find yourself cranky (the effect). A cause-and-effect relationship can also have one cause but many effects, as when staying up all night (the cause) makes you both cranky and tired (the effects). And, of course, a cause-and-effect relationship can have multiple causes and multiple effects, as when skipping classes and not studying (the causes) result in you not understanding the material and failing the class (the effects).
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.
There is a complication with that cause-and-effect chain.
From Slate • Jun. 3, 2026
However, they emphasized that no direct clinical cause-and-effect relationship has been proven.
From Science Daily • May 23, 2026
“The Beauty” is baffling at first, and baffling later—the whole cause-and-effect angle regarding the virus/treatment is almost impossible to explain, which means it’s overly obscure and thus mishandled.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026
To try and shed light on the cause-and-effect relationship, Australian researchers are recruiting 13- to 16-year-olds for a "Connected Minds Study" to assess how the ban affects their wellbeing.
From Barron's • Dec. 1, 2025
Most people would look at this correlation and infer an obvious cause-and-effect relationship.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
