Meanings
plural efforts
- The work involved in performing an activity; exertion.
put in effort
5 more examples
make an effort
take a lot of effort
It took a lot of effort to find a decent-sized, fully-furnished apartment within walking distance of the office. He made a conscious effort to not appear affected by the stories in the paper.
The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLCThe 30-year-old South Korean, who joined United in 2005, retired from international duty after last season's Asian Cup in an effort to prolong his club
2011 June 22, Press Association, “Manchester United offer Park Ji-sung a new two-year contract”, in The GuardianSynonyms: trouble
- An endeavor.
Although he didn't win any medals, Johnson's effort at the Olympics won over many fans.
1 more example
But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.
2012 March 28, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87
present singular third person efforts · participle present efforting · participle past efforted · past efforted
- intransitiveuncommonTo make an effort.
- obsoletetransitiveTo strengthen, fortify or stimulate
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.
1684, Thomas Fuller, G. S., Anglorum Speculum: Or The Worthies of England, in Church and State
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe work involved in performing an activity; exertion.
More synonyms by meaning
nounearnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something
nounuse of physical or mental energy; hard work
nouna series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinex
- Vulgar Latin*exfortiō
- Old Frenchesfort
- Middle Frencheffort
- Englisheffort
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).
More words from Middle French, Old French, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic جَهْد, جُهْد
- جَهْد (jahd)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- جُهْد (juhd)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- مَجْهُود (majhūd)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- سَعْي (saʕy)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Bengali কোশেশ, মেহনত
- কোশেশ (kōśeś)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- মেহনত (mehonot)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Bulgarian уси́лие, стара́ние
- уси́лие (usílie)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- стара́ние (staránie)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Catalan esforç
- esforçthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Chinese Mandarin 努力, 費力 /费力
- 努力 (nǔlì)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- 費力 /费力 (fèilì)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Czech úsilí, snaha
- úsilíthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- snahathe amount of work involved in achieving something
Danish anstrengelse, indsats
- anstrengelsethe amount of work involved in achieving something
- indsatsthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Dutch inspanning
- inspanningthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Esperanto klopodo, penado
- klopodothe amount of work involved in achieving something
- penadothe amount of work involved in achieving something
Estonian pingutus
- pingutusthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Finnish ponnistus, vaiva
- ponnistusthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- vaivathe amount of work involved in achieving something
- yritysthe amount of work involved in achieving something
French effort
- effortthe amount of work involved in achieving something
German Anstrengung, Aufwand
- Anstrengungthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- Aufwandthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- Bemühungthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Greek προσπάθεια
- προσπάθεια (prospátheia)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Hebrew מַאֲמָץ
- מַאֲמָץ (ma'amáts)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Hindi प्रयास, कोशिश
- प्रयास (prayās)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- कोशिश (kośiś)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- जतन (jatan)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- प्रयत्न (prayatna)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Hungarian erőfeszítés
- erőfeszítésthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Indonesian upaya, usaha
- upayathe amount of work involved in achieving something
- usahathe amount of work involved in achieving something
Irish stró, iarracht
- stróthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- iarrachtthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Italian sforzo
- sforzothe amount of work involved in achieving something
Japanese 努力
- 努力 (doryoku)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Korean 노력
- 노력 (noryeok)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Latin mōlīmen, mōlīmentum
- mōlīmenthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- mōlīmentumthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- operathe amount of work involved in achieving something
Latvian piepūle
- piepūlethe amount of work involved in achieving something
Lithuanian stengimasis, pastanga
- stengimasisthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- pastangathe amount of work involved in achieving something
Māori manawanuitanga, kohakoha
- manawanuitangathe amount of work involved in achieving something
- kohakohathe amount of work involved in achieving something
Norwegian Bokmål anstrengelse, innsats
- anstrengelsethe amount of work involved in achieving something
- innsatsthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Persian تلاش, سعی
- تلاش (talâš)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- سعی (sa'y)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- جهد (jahd)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- کوشش (kôšeš)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Polish wysiłek, staranie
- wysiłekthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- staraniethe amount of work involved in achieving something
Portuguese esforço
- esforçothe amount of work involved in achieving something
Romanian efort, solicitare
- efortthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- solicitarethe amount of work involved in achieving something
Russian уси́лие, стара́ние
- уси́лие (usílije)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- стара́ние (staránije)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- поту́га (potúga)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Scottish Gaelic iomairt, oidhirp
- iomairtthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- oidhirpthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Slovak úsilie, snaha
- úsiliethe amount of work involved in achieving something
- snahathe amount of work involved in achieving something
Spanish esfuerzo, ahínco
- esfuerzothe amount of work involved in achieving something
- ahíncothe amount of work involved in achieving something
Swahili juhudi
- juhudithe amount of work involved in achieving something
Swedish ansträngning, insats
- ansträngningthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- insatsthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Tamil முயற்சி
- முயற்சி (muyaṟci)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Thai ความพยายาม
- ความพยายาม (kwaam-pá-yaa-yaam)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Turkish çaba, ceht
- çabathe amount of work involved in achieving something
- cehtthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- eforthe amount of work involved in achieving something
- gayretthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Ukrainian зуси́лля, спро́ба
- зуси́лля (zusýllja)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- спро́ба (spróba)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- намага́ння (namahánnja)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- стара́ння (staránnja)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Urdu جـﮩد, کوشش
- جـﮩد (jahad, jahd)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- کوشش (kośiś)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- جتن (jatan)the amount of work involved in achieving something
- سعی (sa'ī)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Vietnamese nỗ lực
- nỗ lựcthe amount of work involved in achieving something
Yiddish אָנשטרענגונג
- אָנשטרענגונג (onshtrengung)the amount of work involved in achieving something
Cite this entry
effort. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effort
“effort.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effort. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “effort,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effort.
Source: effort on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.