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.
-
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.
They depend on decades-old Soviet-era equipment, while fuel shortages imperil their effectiveness.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has said it would "periodically review" its effectiveness "to ensure that it is fit for purpose".
From BBC • May 13, 2026
We didn’t need to test the effectiveness of symptom relief.
From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026
For the deputy, that success confirmed the effectiveness of a system he had persuaded the department to adopt.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
To demonstrate its effectiveness in controlling lice, guards asked five men and five women in each of the infested dorm rooms to wash themselves with the cloudy liquid.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
