Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having an intended or expected effect.
- adj. Producing a strong impression or response; striking: gave an effective performance as Othello.
- adj. Operative; in effect: The law is effective immediately.
- adj. Existing in fact; actual: a decline in the effective demand.
- adj. Prepared for use or action, especially in warfare.
- n. A soldier or a piece of military equipment that is ready for combat: "The 'company' was no more than two platoons of effectives” ( Tom Clancy).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Serving to effect the intended purpose; producing the intended or expected effect or result; operative; efficacious: as, an effective cause; effective proceedings.
- Capable of producing effect; fit for action or duty; adapted for a desired end: as, the effective force of an army or of a steam-engine is so much; effective capacity.
- Serving to impress or affect with admiration; producing a decided impression of beauty or a feeling of admiration at the first presentation; impressive; striking; specifically, artistically strong or successful: as, an effective performance; an effective picture.
- Actual; real.
- n. The number of men actually doing duty, or the strength of a company, a regiment, or an army, in the field or on parade.
- n. A soldier fit for duty.
Wiktionary
- adj. Having the power to produce a required effect or effects.
- adj. Producing a decided or decisive effect.
- adj. Efficient, serviceable, or operative, available for useful work.
- adj. Actually in effect.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Having the power to produce an effect or effects; producing a decided or decisive effect; efficient; serviceable; operative.
- n. That which produces a given effect; a cause.
- n. One who is capable of active service.
- n. (Com.) Specie or coin, as distinguished from paper currency; -- a term used in many parts of Europe.
- n. The serviceable soldiers in a country; an army or any military body, collectively.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. able to accomplish a purpose; functioning effectively
- adj. existing in fact; not theoretical; real.
- adj. ready for service
- adj. works well as a means or remedy
- adj. producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect
- adj. exerting force or influence
Examples
“And this morning, the President at the ground breaking, made the point that this is going to be a place where service members could get what he called effective accountable care.”
“And the Department of Homeland Security says it has what it calls effective control of less than 15 percent of our southern border with Mexico.”
“And, also, it wants to discuss effective measures, what it calls effective measures to avoid similar incidents from happening in the future.”
“Authorized to reappoint Peter Hinckley as an Assistance Attorney General at a salary level of $75,500 for a term effective October 14, 2009 through October 14, 2010.”
Democracy for New Hampshire - Growing the grassroots in New Hampshire's political landscape
“The only way to make this wall cost-effective is if you hire Mexicans to build it.”
“Surveys show that some believe that it refers to effective economic management.”
“To stay afloat when a company is in effective competition with an expanding government, the only solution is increased productivity.”
Productivity and Unemployment, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“I also predicted that consumers ultimately would be able to find alternatives to obtain "effective and credible education.”
Capitalism without Capital, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“Parks, like educational institutions, are not cost effective from a banker's or economist's perspective.”
“That makes some sense Brad except for the fact that Kyoto exempts developing nations so how effective is it as a tool to hold growth down in developing countries relative to Europeans?”
Global Warming, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘effective’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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CONT - general terms
additionality, audit trail, accounting standards, auditing standards, general audit obj..., a posteriori audit, a priori audit, above board, acceptable error ..., access rights, accountability, accountable entities and 1283 more...
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Orwellian Purism
Words and phrases George Orwell criticizes in his essay 'Politics and the English Language'.
ring the changes on, take up the cudge..., toe the line, ride roughshod over, stand shoulder to..., play into the han..., no axe to grind, grist to the mill, fishing in troubl..., on the order of t..., Achilles’ heel, swan song and 162 more...
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INTERP - speeches can be...
adequate, adroit, blunt, blurred, committed, divisive, exacerbating, fitting, hollow, lengthy, murky, pronounced and 123 more...
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...conferral, stateless, person, voting, right, subsidiarity, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and 2614 more...
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EU Buzz - single words (1+2+3)
1. Strictly EU terms with special European meaning used only in the EU
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2. Keywords central to the understanding of the EU (people working for the EU are usually able to give thematic...acceleration, action, additionality, administrator, agenda, agricultural, agri-environmental, agriflation, agri-food, applicant, approach, assent and 1325 more...
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Words That Sell Snake Oil
Trying to sell an overpriced e-book that will communicate the true secrets of wealth, power, or yard-care? Here are some helpful words to sprinkle in your copy.
sensational, expertise, secrets, guaranteed, success, legitimate, conclusive, amazing, smart, free, easy, automatic and 18 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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edwardvielmetti's Words
wordhord, wordhoard, wordy, wordie, wiki, toriokyo, superpatron, vacuum, crazy, crazybusy, a2b3, 48104 and 220 more...
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Insurance Data-Related words
claimant, delete, register, invoice, spreadsheet, alert, electronic, cartridge, password, dashboard, certificate, presentation and 90 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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Coruscatingly what?
List of adjectival terms, from aggressive to zippered, paired in printed materials with the adverb coruscatingly, identified by a simple query to Google Search (Books).
...propaedeutic...aggressive, angry, articulate, astringent, aware, beautiful, big, blinding, bright, brilliant, brutal, cerebral and 93 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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junestag's Words
postmodernism, cat, fish, rabbit, dell, coffee, elearning, mazda, php, mysql, flash, blogger and 755 more...
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A Dalliance of Dahlias
For more flower fun, see these lists:
Rose words by mollusque
Rose varieties by mollusque
Tulip Names I
Tulip Names II: You Know My Name
A Myriad of Iriia la mode, ace o' hearts, acclimation, adhesion, admirable, adorable you, advance, affirmed, after glow, agricola, alabama melody, alabaster queen and 1152 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for effective.
Dan337 See usage note at affect. Jun 28, 2011
bilby "If, as some environmentalists demand, it is to happen worldwide, then much of the arable surface of the planet will be deployed to produce food for cars, not people. The market responds to money, not need. People who own cars - by definition - have more money than people at risk of starvation: their demand is effective, while the groans of people at risk of the starving are not. In a contest between cars and people, the cars would win. Something rather like this is happening already. Though 800 million people are permanently malnourished, the global increase in crop production is being used mostly to feed animals: the number of livestock on earth has quintupled since 1950. The reason is that those who buy meat and dairy products have more purchasing power than those who buy only subsistence crops."
- 'Heat', George Monbiot. Feb 19, 2008