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.
About one-third of global fertilizer shipments pass through the narrow waterway, creating potentially catastrophic knock-on effects for agricultural producers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton likened the effects of a software bug that affected multiple cars before the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to a "Lego race".
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
The island’s troubles are another reminder of the unexpected effects of climate change.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
“Cultivating adolescents’ future time perspective is therefore crucial to counteract short-form video addiction’s detrimental effects and bolster their academic buoyancy,” the study’s authors wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
Once this braid was done, Pond would have nothing to diminish the effects of the radiation poisoning.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
