effectiveadjective
uk/ɪˈfek.tɪv/us/əˈfek.tɪv/effective adjective (SUCCESSFUL)
B2 successful or achieving the results that you want:
It's an extremely effective cure for a headache.
The lighting for the production made a very effective use of shadow.
She's a very effective teacher.
Opposite
ineffective
More examples
- Yoga is a very effective technique for combating stress.
- I've never found screaming and shouting at my staff to be very effective.
- This tiny capsule contains two types of effective painkilling ingredients.
- If the law is to be effective it must be applied fairly.
- This style of decoration is simple yet effective.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Efficient and effective
- a treat idiom
- be firing on all cylinders idiom
- businesslike
- do the trick idiom
- does what it says on the tin idiom
- labour-saving
- miraculous
- organized
- potency
- proactive
- punch
- smooth
- technical
- timesaving
- together
- treat
- trick
- well oiled
- well tried
- worth
See more results »
effective adjective (IN FACT)
[ before noun ] in fact, although not officially:
Although she's not officially our boss, she's in effective control of the office.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
True, real, false, and unreal
- actual
- actuality
- actually
- all that glitters is not gold idiom
- apocryphal
- faithful
- false
- falsely
- fictional
- fictitious
- glitter
- gritty
- nominal
- pretend
- proper
- properly
- properly speaking idiom
- pukka
- realistic
- well founded
See more results »
effective adjective (IN USE)
If a law or rule becomes effective, it starts to be used:
The new laws will become effective next month.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Affecting and influencing
- across-the-board
- act
- affect
- applicability
- be/fall under sb's influence/spell idiom
- bear on sth
- cross
- force
- inspiration
- instrumental
- jerk
- lead 1
- leave your/its mark on sb/sth idiom
- major league
- reverberate
- thing
- turn sb's head idiom
- unlock
- warp
- work against/for sb
See more results »
effectiveness
noun [ U ] uk/ɪˈfek.tɪv.nəs/us/əˈfek.tɪv.nəs/
C1
There are doubts about the effectiveness of the new drug (= how successful it is) in treating the disease.