Standard Lemma guide

exertion

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ɪɡˈzɝʃən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪɡˈzɜːʃən/
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 G Z ER1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An expenditure of physical or mental effort.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

use of physical or mental energy; hard work

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he got an A for effort
  • they managed only with great exertion

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: effort, elbow grease, travail, sweat

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: labor, labour, toil

Narrower terms: struggle, trouble, difficulty, least effort, least resistance, strain, straining, exercise, exercising, physical exercise, physical exertion, workout, pull, application, diligence, overkill, supererogation, overexertion, friction, detrition, rubbing

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: напрягане (naprjagane) — the action of exerting
  • Bulgarian: усилие (usilie) — the action of exerting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 竭尽全力 (jiéjìnquánlì) — the action of exerting
  • Czech: úsilí — the action of exerting
  • Czech: námaha — the action of exerting
  • Czech: namáhání se — the action of exerting
  • Dutch: inspanning — the action of exerting
  • Esperanto: streĉo — the action of exerting
  • Finnish: ponnistus — the action of exerting
  • French: effort — the action of exerting
  • French: dépense — the action of exerting
  • Galician: esforzo — the action of exerting
  • Georgian: ძალვა (ʒalva) — the action of exerting
  • German: Anstrengung — the action of exerting
  • German: Kraftanstrengung — the action of exerting
  • German: Anspannung — the action of exerting
  • German: Ausübung — the action of exerting
  • German: Strapaze — the action of exerting
  • German: Betätigung — the action of exerting
  • German: Belastung — the action of exerting
  • German: Mühe — the action of exerting
  • Ancient Greek: κόπος (kópos) — the action of exerting
  • Ancient Greek: συντονία (suntonía) — the action of exerting
  • Irish: stró — the action of exerting
  • Italian: sforzo — the action of exerting
  • Italian: fatica — the action of exerting
  • Northern Kurdish: têkoşîn — the action of exerting
  • Northern Kurdish: hewl — the action of exerting
  • Northern Kurdish: cehd — the action of exerting
  • Latin: mōlīmen — the action of exerting
  • Latin: mōlīmentum — the action of exerting
  • Latin: opera — the action of exerting
  • Macedonian: на́пор (nápor) — the action of exerting
  • Malayalam: അദ്ധ്വാനം (addhvānaṁ) — the action of exerting
  • Malayalam: പ്രയത്നം (prayatnaṁ) — the action of exerting
  • Māori: titina — the action of exerting
  • Occitan: esfòrç — the action of exerting
  • Plautdietsch: Aunstrenjunk — the action of exerting
  • Portuguese: esforço — the action of exerting
  • Russian: уси́лие (usílije) — the action of exerting
  • Spanish: esfuerzo — the action of exerting
  • Spanish: ejercicio — the action of exerting
  • Spanish: ejercitación — the action of exerting
  • Swedish: ansträngning — the action of exerting