effectiveness
Americannoun
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the quality of producing an intended or desired result.
For maximum effectiveness of your weight loss plan, you need to combine exercise with a healthy diet.
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the quality of producing a deep or vivid impression.
We were struck by the evident appeal and effectiveness of these short, dramatic, upbeat video stories.
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a measure of the success of a vaccine or other pharmaceutical when used in the real world, as opposed to the controlled environment of a clinical trial.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of effectiveness
First recorded in 1600–10; effective ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )
Vocabulary lists containing effectiveness
Reading: Informational - Middle School
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Media Literacy - High School
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Media Literacy - Middle School
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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.
But others question the effectiveness of the California’s good-government reforms and merits of the self-glorification that followed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Over the past 15 years, the Hindenburg Omen’s effectiveness appears to have diminished, data showed.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Others reported having to move medications because buildings were getting too hot – because if they overheat, they may lose some of their effectiveness.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
As a condition of accelerated approval, Replimune is required to conduct a follow-up trial to confirm Tudriqev’s safety and effectiveness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Then Ambady compared those snap judgments of teacher effectiveness with evaluations of those same professors made by their students after a full semester of classes, and she found that they were also essentially the same.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
