Effort

//ˈɛf.ət// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The work involved in performing an activity; exertion.

    "make an effort"

  2. 2
    a notable achievement wordnet
  3. 3
    An endeavor.

    "Although he didn't win any medals, Johnson's effort at the Olympics won over many fans."

  4. 4
    use of physical or mental energy; hard work wordnet
  5. 5
    A force acting on a body in the direction of its motion.

    "the two bodies between which the effort acts"

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something wordnet
  2. 7
    a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To make an effort. intransitive, uncommon
  2. 2
    To strengthen, fortify or stimulate obsolete, transitive

    "When old, he lived in London where, being High-minded and Poor, he was exposed to the contempt of disingenuous persons. Yet he efforted his Spirits with a Commemoration of the Days of Old."

Synonyms

All synonyms
attemptdeedstrugglepainaccomplished factaccomplishment

Example

More examples

"Nothing is achieved without effort."

Etymology

From Middle French effort, from Old French esfort, deverbal of esforcier (“to force, exert”), from Vulgar Latin *exfortiō, from Latin ex + fortis (“strong”). Compare typologically Bulgarian усилие (usilie), Czech úsilí, Polish wysiłek, Russian уси́лие (usílije) (< Proto-Slavic *sila).

Related phrases

A for effortbest effortscenter of effortcentre of efforteffort distancejoint effortslow-effort syndromemake an effortmake every effortspare no efforttractive effortwar effort

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.