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Efficient vs Economic - What's the difference?

efficient | economic |

As adjectives the difference between efficient and economic

is that efficient is efficient while economic is economic.

efficient

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=A better waterworks, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic
  • Using a particular proportion of available energy.
  • Causing effects; producing results.
  • * Wilson
  • The efficient cause is the working cause.

    Antonyms

    * inefficient

    Derived terms

    * efficient cause * subefficient

    References

    ----

    economic

    English

    Alternative forms

    * economick (archaic) * (archaic) * (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Pertaining to an economy.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.}}
  • Frugal; cheap (in the sense of representing good value) ; economical.
  • Pertaining to the study of money and its movement.
  • Usage notes

    Modern usage prefers economic' when describing the economy of a region or country (and when referring to personal or family budgeting).
    '
    Economical
    is preferred when referring to thrift or value for money.

    Derived terms

    * economical * economics

    Anagrams

    * ----