Meanings
plural effectivenesses
- countableuncountableThe property of being effective, of achieving results.
The effectiveness of the drug was well established.
- countableuncountableThe capacity or potential for achieving results.
The problem with these precedents is that the Security Council did not authorize intervention in Syria, and an intervention there will thus harm, not help, the Council’s credibility and effectiveness.
2013 August 31, Jack L. Goldsmith, “What Happened to the Rule of Law?”, in The New York Times - countableuncountableThe degree to which something achieves results.
He questioned the effectiveness of the treatment.
1 more example
United were having more possession but a sign of the effectiveness of Liverpool's defence was that it took the visitors 76 minutes to force Mignolet into serious action, when he dived to punch away a shot from substitute Nani.
2013 September 1, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 1-0 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2018
Synonyms & antonyms
nounpower to be effective; the quality of being able to bring about an effect
nouncapacity to produce strong physiological or chemical effects
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
- Proto-Italic*eks
- Latinex
- Latinex-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁k-
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰh₁kyéti
- Proto-Italic*θakjō
- Proto-Italic*fakjō
- Latinfaciō
- Latinefficiō
- Latineffectīvu
- Frencheffectif
- Englisheffective
- Englisheffectiveness
Translations
Ancient Greek δρᾶσις
- δρᾶσις (drâsis)property
Catalan efectivitat
- efectivitatproperty
Chinese Mandarin 有效性, 成效
- 有效性 (yǒuxiàoxìng)property
- 成效 (chéngxiào)degree
- 效力 (xiàolì)degree
Dutch effectiviteit
- effectiviteitdegree
Finnish vaikuttavuus, vaikuttavuus
- vaikuttavuusproperty
- vaikuttavuuscapacity or potential
- vaikuttavuusdegree
- tehodegree
French efficacité
- efficacitéproperty
German Wirksamkeit, Effektivität
- Wirksamkeitproperty
- Effektivitätproperty
- Wirkungsfähigkeitproperty
- Durchsetzungsfähigkeitcapacity or potential
- Durchsetzungsvermögencapacity or potential
- Wirksamkeitdegree
- Wirkungsgraddegree
Greek αποτελεσματικότητα
- αποτελεσματικότητα (apotelesmatikótita)property
Hungarian hatásosság, eredményesség
- hatásosságproperty
- eredményességproperty
- hatásosságdegree
Indonesian efektivitas, keefektifan
- efektivitasproperty
- keefektifanproperty
Italian efficacia, efficacia
- efficaciaproperty
- efficaciadegree
Latvian iedarbīgums, lietderīgums
- iedarbīgumsproperty
- lietderīgumsproperty
- efektivitāteproperty
Malay keberkesanan
- keberkesananproperty
Polish skuteczność
- skutecznośćproperty
Portuguese eficiência
- eficiênciaproperty
Romanian eficacitate, eficiență
- eficacitateproperty
- eficiențăproperty
Russian эффекти́вность, результати́вность
- эффекти́вность (effektívnostʹ)property
- результати́вность (rezulʹtatívnostʹ)property
- эффекти́вность (effektívnostʹ)degree
- результати́вность (rezulʹtatívnostʹ)degree
Spanish efectividad, eficacia
- efectividadproperty
- eficaciacapacity or potential
Ukrainian ефекти́вність, результати́вність
- ефекти́вність (efektývnistʹ)property
- результати́вність (rezulʹtatývnistʹ)property
Cite this entry
effectiveness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effectiveness
“effectiveness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effectiveness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “effectiveness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effectiveness.
Source: effectiveness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.