strive
Americanverb (used without object)
-
strives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strived,
past participle, past
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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
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outstriveverb (used with object)
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interstriveverb (used without object)
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overstriveverb (used without object)
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restriveverb (used without object)
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
strivesimple
-
strivessimple
-
have strivedperfect
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have strivenperfect
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has strivedperfect
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has strivenperfect
-
am strivingprogressive
-
are strivingprogressive
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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:
“Everyone has their own thing ... we complement each other. We just push each other to strive for greatness.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
"Being at this club, you've got to strive to win," said Carrick.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
“We strive to set the highest standards for pay and we require that all supply chain partners adhere to our code of conduct. Furthermore, Shein works with auditors to ensure compliance,” the company said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
It has important implications in areas such as sales, where companies strive toward “zero latency” as they tend to customer needs, Stav Levi-Neumark, co-founder and CEO of Alta, told me last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
“All the journals from Maine to Texas seemed to strive with each other to see which could make our movement appear the most ridiculous,” Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote in her autobiography.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
When the Strait of Hormuz is closed, some of the global energy supply that passes through it is redirected to Bab al-Mandab, a roughly 20-mile-wide strait the Yemeni government strives to protect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
“It is a department that strives to ... make positive changes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
Like other United Nations agencies, the ILO is currently facing significant financial pressure and is undergoing major reforms as it strives to tighten its budget.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
"He wants us to be better, and that's exactly what I, my family, and I hope every single other person here strives to do every single day - make this world a better place."
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Ironically, his struggle is the reverse of an actor’s struggle—he strives not to enter a part but to escape it.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
"Pakistan has always strived for maintaining peace and stability in the region, but at the same time the safety and security of our citizens remains our top priority," he wrote on X.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 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
The disintegration of Willy’s mind reflects its cause, the disintegration of the family for which he has strived and sold himself—and his tattered, tarnished soul—for decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
World Rugby, the WRU and the RFU previously said that they "constantly strived to safeguard" future, current and former players.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 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
A headline in the Los Angeles Times strove to be diplomatic—or at least deliver the shiv elegantly: “Paramount settlement is less than desired, more than nothing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 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
There were some carers who strove to make the lives of residents better and who managed to carve out time in their busy days to engage but those moments were few and far between.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2025
As rescuers worked, they strove to “reduce vibration and personnel close to the trench,” to avoid causing more dirt to cave in, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
It seemed only natural to him that such a place would have formed his principled fiancée, who always strove for perfection, and he gladly followed her back to Shaker Heights after graduation.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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
Where "Call of Duty" focuses on tighter, smaller skirmishes, Battlefield has always striven to create a more epic canvas.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
Over the last decade and a half, the king has striven to raise his son’s public profile, including taking him to the United Nations General Assembly to speak in 2017.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2023
“Memorial” does for Lin’s legacy what she has striven to do in her work — invite people to consider uncomfortable truths.
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2023
The denizens of Joffrey's court had striven to outdo each other today.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
It is striving to begin delivering vehicles to European customers by the end of 2027.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
“I think that a lifetime of perfectionism and striving and sort of putting my mission and my work over my health just hit a wall,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Millennial television’s leads are also constantly striving to hit adult milestones, established either by their elders or their own anxious minds.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
Among other things, he said the organisation was striving to better protect motorcycle taxi drivers who transport patients, and integrate them into the surveillance system.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
She let her hand he listlessly, as though her thoughts were elsewhere— somewhere in advance of her body, and she was striving to overtake them.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
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.
