effortful
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of effortful
Vocabulary lists containing effortful
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.
The clowning might be a little too effortful.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Instead of becoming more automatic or habit-driven, the rats showed more deliberate and effortful decision-making.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 16, 2026
A 2021 meta-analysis of the impact of videogames found that some games have educational benefits, but heavy gaming can also “lead to addiction and impair ability to focus on effortful goal oriented behavior.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2025
And pulses can be perceived as inconvenient, effortful or difficult to cook.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2024
She smiled at him as they hauled themselves up it—a brief flash of teeth, effortful but gallant—and tried to wring the water from her clothes.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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.
