Ability
Ability noun - The physical or mental power to do something.
Usage example: as a result of the accident the once-vigorous athlete lost the ability to walk
Effectiveness and ability are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Effectiveness" instead a noun "Ability".
Nearby Word: able
Effectiveness
Effectiveness noun - The power to produce a desired result.
Usage example: the huge upsurge in sales pretty much demonstrated the effectiveness of the new ad campaign
Ability and effectiveness are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Ability" instead a noun "Effectiveness".
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- skill and ability
- skill and effectiveness
- capacity and ability
- capacity and effectiveness
- power and ability
- power and effectiveness
- force and ability
- force and effectiveness
- strength and ability
- strength and effectiveness
- fitness and ability
- fitness and effectiveness
- adequacy and ability
- adequacy and effectiveness
How words are described
| physical | physical ability | physical effectiveness |
| full | full ability | full effectiveness |
| better | better ability | better effectiveness |
| similar | similar ability | similar effectiveness |
| Other adjectives: exceptional, poor, actual, real, extreme, great, little, remarkable, inherent, incredible, general, less, extra, unusual, greater, basic, magical, super, tactical, newfound. | ||
Both words in one sentence
- This can sometimes be the official form of Chickification, since the reduction in rank is often accompanied by a reduction in ability or effectiveness (making you wonder how she got promoted in the first place).
Source: Quickly Demoted Woman -
The American version of The Office plays this trope for comedy; it's somewhat justified in that incompetent office manager Michael serves as a buffer between the employees and the rest of the company, and the two HR managers seen might as well not be there in terms of effectiveness and ability.
Source: No Such Thing as H.R. -
Quirky Bard: Princess Sarah who comes with low everything except Luck but has almost every stat boosting song ability as well as a skill that doubles their effectiveness.
Cite this Source
Effectiveness and Ability. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/ability/effectiveness
Ability & Effectiveness. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/ability/effectiveness>.
Effectiveness or Ability. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/ability/effectiveness.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "ability" and "effectiveness" have occurred on timeline