strive
/ˈstɹaɪv/
strive verb: to try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently. Also the alternative form of strife.
Verb
strive (third-person singular simple present strives, present participle striving, simple past strove or strived, past participle striven or strived or (nonstandard, colloquial) strove)
- To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently.
- He strove to excel.
- We strive for the truth.
- To struggle in opposition; to be in contention or dispute; to contend; to contest.
- to strive against fate
- Now private pity strove with public hate, / Reason with rage, and eloquence with fate.1668, John Denham, “On the Earl of Strafford’s Tryal and Death”, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, London: […] [John Macock] for H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC
- To vie; to compete as a rival.
- [Not] that sweet grove
Of Daphne, by Orontes and the inspired
Castalian spring, might with this paradise
Of Eden strive.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- [Not] that sweet grove
Also used as
strive is also the alternative form of strife.
strive meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit
strive in Hindi
- to sincerely try to achieve, to make one's best effort
- प्रयास करना prayās karnā, उद्यम करना udyam karnā
strive in Tamil
- to sincerely try to achieve, to make one's best effort
- முயல் muyal
strive in Telugu
- to sincerely try to achieve, to make one's best effort
- కష్టించు kaṣṭiñcu, కృషి చేయు kr̥ṣi cēyu
strive in Sanskrit
- to sincerely try to achieve, to make one's best effort
- लषति laṣati
More languagesFewer languages
- strive in Arabic
- كَافَحَ kāfaḥa, اِجْتَهَدَ ijtahada, نَاضَلَ nāḍala, حَرَصَ ḥaraṣa
- strive in Indonesian
- berjuang, memperjuangkan, bersusah payah
- strive in Persian
- کوشش کردن kôšeš kardan, تلاش کردن talâš kardan
- strive in Thai
- พยายาม pá-yaa-yaam, เพียร piian, บากบั่น bàak-bàn
- strive in Vietnamese
- cố gắng
Examples of strive in a sentence
- Our lounge strives to maintain an environment of peace for the comfort of our customers.
- The movement strove to put women under the protective mantle of civil rights laws.
- They strove to make their product unequivocally the best in the industry.
Synonyms of strive
- seek
- pursue
- reach for
- put
- keep
- &c. one's nose to the grindstone
- put one's back into
- give 110%
- break one's back
- work hard
2 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of strive
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | strives |
| present participle | striving |
| past | strove |
| past | strived |
| past participle | striven |
| past participle | strived |
| past participle (nonstandard, colloquial) | strove |
| Noun | |
| plural | strives |
Origin of strive
From Middle English striven (“to strive”), from Old French estriver (“to compete, quarrel”), from Frankish *strīban (“to exert, make an effort”) from Proto-Germanic *strībaną, or from Frankish *stribēn (“to strive”) from Proto-Germanic *stribāną. As this verb is conjugated as if it were a strong verb (like drive, ride, and write), it is possible this word may instead be inherited from an unattested Old English *strīfan or *strifian, which would itself also be inherited from Proto-Germanic *strībaną.
Words formed from strive
Words that rhyme with strive
34 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about strive
- What does strive mean?
- Strive means to try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently.
- What is strive in Hindi?
- Strive in Hindi is प्रयास करना (prayās karnā), उद्यम करना (udyam karnā). See Strive meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is strive?
- Strive is a verb.
- How do you pronounce strive?
- Strive is pronounced /ˈstɹaɪv/.
- What is the past tense of strive?
- The past tense of strive is strove.
Words near strive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: strive (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-strive.ogg.
Cite this entry: “strive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/strive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.