Efficient most often describes what is capable of producing desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy. While the word can be applied to both people and things, it is far more commonly …

The adjective effective describes things that are adequate to accomplish a purpose, or that produce the intended or expected result. But effective isn’t quite the same as effectual, efficacious, or efficient!

EFFECTIVE definition: 1. successful or achieving the results that you want: 2. (used about a treatment or drug) working…. Learn more.

Definition of effective adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Effective and efficient are often confused, but they have slightly different meanings. If you are effective, you do a job properly; if you are efficient, you do it quickly and easily.

Effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient refer to that which is able to produce a (desired) effect. Effective is applied to that which has the power to, or which actually does, produce an effect: an effective …

Aug 28, 2025 · Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary from 1913 lists efficient and effective as synonyms, but all major dictionaries now show that these words now only have different meanings in …

When something such as a law or an agreement becomes effective, it begins officially to apply or be valid. The new rules will become effective in the next few days.

Effectiveness or effectivity[1] is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected …

EFFECTIVE definition: 1. successful or achieving the result that you want: 2. If changes, laws, etc become effective…. Learn more.