Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Acting or producing effectively with a minimum of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort.
- adjective Acting directly to produce an effect.
- adjective Causing less waste or requiring less effort than comparable devices or methods. Used in combination.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Producing outward effects; of a nature to produce a result; active; causative.
- Acting or able to act with due effect; adequate in performance; bringing to bear the requisite knowledge, skill, and industry; capable; competent: as, an efficient workman, director, or commander.
- Synonyms Efficacious, Effectual, etc. (see
effective ); energetic, operative, active, ready, helpful. - noun An efficient cause (see above).
- noun One who is efficient or qualified; specifically, in the volunteer service of Great Britain, one who has attended the requisite number of drills, and in respect of whom the corps receives the capitation grant paid by government.
- noun In mathematics, a quantity multiplied by another quantity to produce the quantity of which it is said to be an efficient; a factor.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Causing effects; producing results; that makes the effect to be what it is; actively operative; not inactive, slack, or incapable; characterized by energetic and useful activity.
- noun An efficient cause; a prime mover.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Making good,
thorough , or careful use ofresources ; notconsuming extra. Especially, making good use oftime orenergy . - adjective Using a particular
proportion ofavailable energy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective able to accomplish a purpose; functioning effectively
- adjective being effective without wasting time or effort or expense
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If he left the "road" and became a _very_ efficient common laborer, some _ordinarily efficient_ common laborer would have to take to the "road."
War of the Classes Jack London 1896
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Now, when the advocates of free-agency insist that motive is not the efficient cause of volition, and that mind is the efficient cause thereof, we suppose them to employ the expression, _efficient cause_, in one and the same sense in both branches of the proposition.
A Theodicy, or, Vindication of the Divine Glory Albert Taylor Bledsoe 1843
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[37] I use the term efficient in a technical sense, as meaning all-sufficient to produce the given effect, without the intervention of any other cause.
The Education of American Girls Anna Callender Brackett
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That isn't to deny that a war with tens of thousands of people doesn't have a significant administrative overhead; rather, that focusing on this overhead (which laughs at the term efficient) ends up seriously degrading our ability to actually achieve victory.
Registan.net 2009
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Sure, the critique depends on misinterpreting what the word "efficient" means, as in the "efficient markets hypothesis."
Chicago Economics on Trial Jr. Holman W. Jenkins 2011
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If you believe in efficient markets you should also believe in the toothfairy.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Greenspan’s ‘The Crisis’ and Modigliani and Miller 2010
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If you believe in efficient markets, then you should be very skeptical of the rest of this post.
Inefficient Market?, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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How efficient is it in transporting gun, hunter, and game out of the woods that may be hilly, have rough terrain, etc
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All we need to do to make the health care system cheaper and more efficient is to remove the dilution of responsibility and cost, thus rewarding people who eat right, stay healthy, and live risk-averse lives.
Insurance industry has had a 'long enough time,' Pelosi says 2009
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Investing in efficient and clean energy creates jobs in manufacturing, sales, installation, and servicing of wind turbines, solar panels, and super efficient buildings.
Clean Energy for Prosperity and Security (Blog for Democracy) 2009
jacqueline commented on the word efficient
For some reason, this word sexually arouses me. I think it's because I like my men efficient. Efficient man, efficient sex, mm.
June 23, 2007
palooka commented on the word efficient
You can learn so much on Wordie - & so efficiently.
June 26, 2007
oroboros commented on the word efficient
Uh huh...wait! Does efficient sex mean multiple orgasms? If not, maybe efficiency is not all it's cracked up to be...
June 26, 2007
palooka commented on the word efficient
I miss Jacqueline. Every time I do something efficiently I think of her. I really do. (Sigh).
September 24, 2007
kewpid commented on the word efficient
efficient and sex would seem to be oxymoronic, though the Germans are said to be efficient lovers.
September 24, 2007
reesetee commented on the word efficient
This is one freaky thread.
September 24, 2007
dinkum commented on the word efficient
WORD: efficient
EXAMPLE:
' This rambling introduction is four times as long as the most efficient, effective piece of writing in the history of the English-speaking world, which was Abraham Lincoln's address on the battlefield at Gettysburg. '
1999 KURT VONNEGUT. God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian. "Introduction" (Page 16).
September 9, 2013