Synonyms of efficient

5 similar words · 3 opposite words

Another word for efficient is businesslike. Other synonyms of efficient are lean and efficacious. The opposite of efficient is inefficient.

Synonyms and similar words for efficient

leanEfficient, economic, frugal, agile, slimmed-down; pertaining to the modern industrial principles of "lean...
businesslikeMethodical and efficient, in a way that would be advantageous to a business or businessperson.

inefficientNot efficient; not producing the effect intended or desired; inefficacious.
prodigal
uneconomicalNot economical.

adjective Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy.
adjective Expressing the proportion of consumed energy that was successfully used in a process; the ratio of useful output to total input.
adjective Causing effects, producing results; bringing into being; initiating change (rare except in philosophical and legal expression efficient cause = causative factor or agent).

What is another word for efficient?: Efficient has 5 synonyms on Word.ws, such as businesslike, lean and efficacious.
What is the opposite of efficient?: The opposite of efficient is inefficient. Other antonyms of efficient are uneconomical.
What does efficient mean?: Efficient means making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy.

Adapted from Wiktionary: efficient (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “Synonyms of efficient.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/efficient. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.