strive
Americanverb (used without object)
-
strives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strived,
past participle, past
-
strove,
past
-
striven,
past participle
-
striving
present participle
-
to exert oneself vigorously; try hard.
He strove to make himself understood.
-
to make strenuous efforts toward any goal.
to strive for success.
- Synonyms:
- toil
-
to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict; compete.
-
to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance.
to strive against fate.
-
to rival; vie.
verb
-
(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to make a great and tenacious effort
to strive to get promotion
-
(intr) to fight; contend
Synonym Usage
See try.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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strivernoun
-
outstriveverb (used with object)
-
interstriveverb (used without object)
-
overstriveverb (used without object)
-
restriveverb (used without object)
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
strivesimple
-
strivessimple
-
have strivedperfect
-
have strivenperfect
-
has strivedperfect
-
has strivenperfect
-
am strivingprogressive
-
are strivingprogressive
-
is strivingprogressive
-
have been strivingperfect progressive
-
has been strivingperfect progressive
Past
-
strivedsimple
-
strovesimple
-
had strivedperfect
-
had strivenperfect
-
was strivingprogressive
-
were strivingprogressive
-
had been strivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of strive
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English striven from Old French estriver “to quarrel, compete, strive” from Germanic; compare obsolete Dutch strijven, German streben “to strive”
Explanation
To strive is to endeavor, reach, or strain for something above or beyond. We strive for self-improvement, a better world, or success in general. The Old French origin of this word, estriver ("quarrel," "dispute"), had its 800th birthday not too long ago. Though it shares its roots with strife ("conflict"), it changed over the years (centuries, actually) to describe something more like a conflict with oneself, the attempt to overcome limitations and stay focused on a goal, regardless of whatever quarrels or disputes come up.
Vocabulary lists containing strive
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
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"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman
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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.
See Examples For:
“We strive to provide customers with detailed information about products in our store, including where they are made when that information is provided to us by manufacturers or third-party sellers,” it said in a statement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Bournemouth have already rejected a £64m bid from Chelsea for midfielder Scott as they strive to hold on to the 22-year-old, who enjoyed an impressive season on the south coast, particularly from January onwards.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The play follows the pair of brothers as they strive for success in the theatrical world amid William Shakespeare’s unstoppable rise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
They strive to turn Jane Does into real people and to give their stories meaning and dignity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
To Bess and her mother, money was important, but they did not strive for it too hard.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
Still, he strives, with Sisyphean defiance, to break free.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Those who know him well - or covered his playing career for many years - will describe him as a curious person who strives to do everything to the best of his ability.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
"We will also have to close some programmes," he added, saying "output with the highest audience value and impact" would be prioritised as the BBC strives to be "simpler and faster".
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
A promise for what this country strives to stand for.
From Slate ● May 22, 2026
“A town that strives to make such a good first impression must surely be a friendly place,” she thought.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
For over three years, Jared Kushner has strived to build a set of luxury hotels and resorts in a corner of Eastern Europe that U.S. investors typically overlook.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Gellar also praised their fans for allowing them to enjoy a very private life at home with their children, noting that they have always strived to keep their more intimate family life behind closed doors.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
But last July, the government said it had been informed by the US defense department that the deliveries to Switzerland would be delayed as Washington strived to provide more support for Ukraine.
From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026
In a statement, Hampshire county council said it "strived to deliver the best for all children within our educational settings".
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2026
To produce the kind of landscape effects Olmsted strived to create required not months but years, even decades.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Southgate decided on his penalty takers well in advance based on that training, and strove publicly to take full accountability to take any blame away from his players.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Both Haig and Maras strove to be as historically accurate as possible, even including archival footage from the war.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
SKW posted losses three years in a row as the country strove to wean itself off cheap Russian energy supplies.
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
Like Ronald Reagan and George Shultz, Cheney believed in free markets and America’s founding principles, and he strove to deflect crises that could endanger them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
In the decades that followed, Colored people strove to educate themselves— organizing, creating self-help groups, running for office, fighting to change laws, founding schools, and so on.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
He has striven to place Cohere as a sovereign alternative in both the European and Asian markets.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Europeans have striven this year to maintain U.S. backing for Ukraine—or at least blunt a reduction in U.S. support.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
Emily — brash, naïve, and clad in metallic blue knee-high boots — held up an uncomfortable mirror of everything she had striven not to be.
From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2023
A key figure was producer Willi White, a tribal citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe who has striven to bring more authentic depictions of Indigenous people to movie screens.
From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2022
For when I look back over his career, I can see with hindsight that he must have striven throughout his years somehow to become that butler of his story.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Mostly, though, she just wants to keep doing what she’s been striving for since we were kids — “I want, when you watch me, for you to feel like you’ve seen something magic happen.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
In fact, Americans of all ages, backgrounds and incomes are striving for a better life, but say the rising cost of living prevents them from their aspirations, the researchers found.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
To children, “Spirited Away” is about a little girl striving to find a way back home, a premise as familiar as “The Wizard of Oz.”
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
As the country celebrates 250 years since independence, many Americans and immigrants know the daily reality of chasing that dream -- through countless disappointments and endless striving.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
I saw two extraordinary novelties, grandeur competing with splendor and the populace striving to exceed their city.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
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.
