What does “effort” mean?
- 1
nounthe physical or mental energy you use to do something
Learning a language takes a lot of time and effort.
- 2
nounan attempt to do something, especially something difficult
In an effort to save money, they stopped eating out.
Effort at a glance
- Part of speech
- noun
- CEFR level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Pronunciation
- /ˈɛfərt/ · EF-ert
How to use “effort” correctly
We say “make an effort”, not “do an effort”: “Please make an effort to arrive on time.”
Common phrases with “effort”
- make an effort
- put effort into
- a team effort
- worth the effort
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Word family
- effortless
- effortlessly
“effort” is on these word lists
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