Definition of Effective

• able to accomplish a purpose; functioning effectively; "people who will do nothing unless they get something out of it for themselves are often highly effective persons..."-G.B.Shaw; "effective personnel"; "an efficient secretary"; "the efficient cause of the revolution"
• works well as a means or remedy; "an effective reprimand"; "a lotion that is effective in cases of prickly heat"
• existing in fact; not theoretical; real; "a decline in the effective demand"; "confused increased equipment and expenditure with the quantity of effective work done"