effortless
Americanadjective
adjective
-
requiring or involving little effort; easy
-
archaic making little effort; passive
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of effortless
Explanation
Something effortless is easy to do — or at least appears that way. Great basketball players make scoring three-point shots look effortless. If you always know just what to wear, you have an effortless sense of style. Effort is the work it takes to do something. Moving a couch and staying on a diet both require effort. If something is effortless, it takes no work at all to do. For example, lifting a feather is effortless. Writing may be effortless for some people, but difficult for others. Also, some things just look effortless. A great musician might make playing guitar sound effortless, but years of practice probably went into it. Experts make difficult things seem effortless.
Vocabulary lists containing effortless
Power Suffix: -less
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Stay Strong: Forc and Fort
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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.
Creating something that looks effortless and barely produced is, of course, a feat of production, and Poehler turned to big names in audio for her venture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Raman asked Lauren Perez-Rangel, her Latino outreach senior director, who read the full message in effortless Spanish.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
He advises designing a routine where your habits can become "effortless".
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
“The main living spaces revolve around a dramatic fireplace and connect fluidly to a generous dining area with a sleek wet bar—every detail engineered for both aesthetic impact and effortless use,” the description continued.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
She could smile and cry at the same time, one tear or two sliding gracefully down her cheek, as if on cue, as her voice lifted through its highest notes, tremulous, effortless.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
