Efficient Meaning
/ɪˈfɪʃənt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjMaking good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy.
adjExpressing the proportion of consumed energy that was successfully used in a process; the ratio of useful output to total input.
Sentence Examples
Can you guess which cooler is the most efficient?
This computer is powerful, efficient, and easy to use.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new heating system is very ____ and uses less energy than the old one.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Can you guess which cooler is the most ____?
Word Origin & History
1398, “making,” from Old French, from Latin efficientem, nominative efficiēns, participle of efficere (“work out, accomplish”) (see effect). Meaning “productive, skilled” is from 1787. Efficiency apartment is first recorded 1930, American English.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic[…]real kidneys[…]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time."
— 2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):
"It was well said of Plotinus, that the stars were significant, but not efficient."
— 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
"Ye wake no more to anguish;‥ ye have borne
The Chosen, the Destroyer!‥ soon his hand
Shall strike the efficient blow;
Soon shaking off your penal forms, shall ye,
With songs of joy, amid the Eden groves,
Hymn the Deliverer’s praise!"
— 1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC:
"The Efficient Cause is that from which emanates the force that produces the Effect"
— 1856, William Dexter Wilson, An Elementary Treatise on Logic:
"Some are without efficient, as God; others without matter, as Angels […]."
— 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, I.14:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new heating system is very ____ and uses less energy than the old one.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Can you guess which cooler is the most ____?