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efficiency

ih-FISH-un-see /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/

nounB2IELTSTOEFLGMAT

professionaltechnical

The ability to achieve maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.

Unlike 'effectiveness' (doing the right thing), efficiency is specifically about 'doing things right'—minimizing waste while maintaining quality.

The story behind the word. From the Latin 'ex-' (out) and 'facere' (to do). It originally described a person's power to produce an intended effect, but during the Industrial Revolution, it shifted to describe the mechanical ratio of work done to energy used.

Word relationships

productivity: Productivity measures the volume of work, while efficiency measures the ratio of output to input.

wastefulness: Wastefulness is the unnecessary consumption of resources, the direct opposite of efficiency.

Commonly confused with

effectiveness: Effectiveness is about the end result; efficiency is about the process used to get there.

Word family

efficient (adjective): working in a well-organized and competent way.
efficiently (adverb): in a way that achieves maximum productivity with minimum waste.

Collocations

peak efficiency
operational efficiency
fuel efficiency
improve efficiency

Idioms & expressions

well-oiled machine

Example sentences

"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things." Management Philosophy
"The new solar panels have a much higher energy efficiency than previous models." Environmental Science

Memory hook

Think of 'E-fish-ency'—a fish swimming perfectly through water without making a single unnecessary splash. Minimum waste, maximum result.

When not to use

Avoid using it when discussing the emotional quality of a creative work; a poem isn't 'efficient,' it's 'concise' or 'evocative.'

Fun facts

In physics, no machine can ever be 100% efficient because some energy is always lost as heat.