concerted

kuhn-SUR-tid /kənˈsɜː.tɪd/
adjectiveC1GRESAT
professionalgeneral

Jointly arranged, planned, or carried out; coordinated.

Concerted emphasizes that an action is not accidental or individual; it is a highly planned, deliberate, and unified effort by a group.

The story behind the word. Concerted comes from the verb 'concert', which traces back to Italian 'concertare' (to bring into agreement). The Italian word likely evolved from Latin 'concertare' (to contend or dispute), showing a fascinating semantic shift from 'arguing' to 'resolving differences to play music together'.

Word relationships

  • coordinated: Coordinated refers to the organization of different elements, while concerted emphasizes the unified, intense execution of those elements.
  • joint: Joint simply means done by two or more people, while concerted implies a higher level of planning and intense, synchronized effort.
  • disorganized: Disorganized efforts lack planning and coordination, resulting in chaotic action.
  • individual: Individual efforts are carried out by a single person without coordination with others.

Commonly confused with

  • concerned: Concerned means worried or interested, while concerted means coordinated and planned.

Word family

  • concertedly (adverb): In a coordinated or planned manner.

Collocations

  • concerted effort
  • concerted action
  • concerted campaign
  • concerted attack

Example sentences

  • "It will take a concerted effort from the entire community to clean up the polluted river." A community initiative.
  • "The allied forces made a concerted attack on the enemy stronghold." A military operation.

Memory hook

Think of a musical 'concert'. It requires every musician to play their specific part in a highly coordinated, planned manner to sound beautiful. Coordinated like a concert.

When not to use

Do not use concerted to describe a single person's effort, no matter how hard they work. It must involve multiple people or entities acting together.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'concert of Europe' was used in the 19th century to describe the balance of power established by the major European nations to prevent future wars.

Related words

unison, cohesion

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