different between dexterous vs effective

English

Alternative forms

• dextrous (British)

Etymology

From Latin dexter (“right, ready”) + -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?kst??s/
• Rhymes: -?kst??s

Adjective

dexterous (comparative more dexterous, superlative most dexterous)

1. Skillful with one's hands.
2. Skillful in some specific thing.
   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     We went frequently out with this boat a-fishing; and as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me.

3. Agile; flexible; able to move fluidly and gracefully.
4. (figuratively, archaic) Skilled at argumentation; mentally skillful.
   • 1775, speech by Edmund Burke

     […] the study [of law] renders men acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in defense […]

Related terms

• ambidextrous
• dexter
• dexterity

Translations

See also

• adroit
• active
• expert
• skillful
• clever
• able
• ready
• apt
• handy
• versed

Further reading

• dexterous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• dexterous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• dexterous at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Exoduster

English

Etymology

From French effectif, from Latin effect?vus (“productive; effective”), from effici? (“I make; I bring about”).

Pronunciation

• (weak vowel distinction) IPA^(key): /??f?kt?v/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /??f?kt?v/
• Rhymes: -?kt?v

Adjective

effective (comparative more effective, superlative most effective)

1. Having the power to produce a required effect or effects.

   Synonym: efficacious

2. Producing a decided or decisive effect.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     Whosoever is an effective, real cause of doing his neighbour wrong, is criminal.

3. Efficient, serviceable, or operative, available for useful work.

4. Actually in effect.

5. (geometry, of a cycle or divisor) Having no negative coefficients.
6. (physics, for any effective theory) approximate; Not describing the fundamental dynamic changes in some system as they happen.

Usage notes

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary from 1913 still lists efficient and effective as synonyms, but all major dictionaries now show that these words now only have different meanings in careful use. Use of both for the other meaning is however widespread enough that Longman's Exam Dictionary, for example, finds it necessary to proscribe the use of one for the other with several examples at each entry and provides the following summary:

• efficient = working quickly and without waste
• effective = having the desired effect

Related terms

Translations

Noun

effective (plural effectives)

1. (military) a soldier fit for duty
   • 1876, Dabney Herndon Maury, Southern Historical Society Papers: Volume 2, Number 4, Recollections of the Elkhorn Campaign:

     The Army of the West reached Corinth sometime after the battle of Shiloh. We were 15,000 effectives, and brought Beauregard's effective force up to 45,000 men.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.f?k.tiv/
• Homophone: effectives

Adjective

effective

1. feminine singular of effectif

Latin

Adjective

effect?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of effect?vus