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Efficient vs Useful - What's the difference?

efficient | useful | Related terms |

Efficient is a related term of useful.


As adjectives the difference between efficient and useful

is that efficient is efficient while useful is having a practical or beneficial use.

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

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    useful

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having a practical or beneficial use.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , title= The Adaptable Gas Turbine , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}

    Usage notes

    * Prepositions: useful'' is used in ''useful for '', ''useful for '' and ''useful to ''. The words ''useful to'' are also found in construction such as ''It is useful to do'', in which ''to marks an infinitive rather than being a preposition.

    Synonyms

    * noteful * serviceable * utilitarian

    Antonyms

    * unuseful * useless * harmful