Effortlessly

How to spell effortlessly

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce effortlessly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does effortlessly mean?

1. adverbIn a way that requires or appears to require no effort.

Effortlessly in a sentence

• The experienced pianist moved effortlessly from one piece to the next.

• She handled the difficult client effortlessly during the meeting.

Where does effortlessly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adverb is built on the noun 'effort', which English took from the Old French 'esfort' or 'effort', the noun behind the verb 'esforcier' meaning 'to force' or 'to exert oneself'. That French verb traces back to a Vulgar Latin form 'exfortiare', combining the prefix 'ex' (here intensifying) with 'fortis', the Latin word for 'strong'. So at its root, effort literally carried the idea of 'making strong' or putting strength into a task; the same 'fortis' lies behind familiar relatives such as 'force', 'fortify' and 'comfort'. English then added two of its own native building blocks: the Old English suffix '-leas' (modern '-less', meaning 'free from' or 'without'), giving 'effortless', and finally the adverb-forming '-ly'. The spelling trap lives in that stack of endings, since writers must keep the double 'f' of effort, the full '-less', and the '-ly', producing the four-consonant run in '-tlessly'.

How the word is built

• effort (from Latin fortis: strong)
• -less (without)
• -ly (adverb suffix)