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Efficient (adjective)
Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy.
“An efficient process would automate all the routine work.”
“Our cleaners are almost too efficient: they throw away anything left out on a desk.”
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Efficient (adjective)
Expressing the proportion of consumed energy that was successfully used in a process; the ratio of useful output to total input.
“The motor is only 20% efficient at that temperature.”
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Efficient (adjective)
Causing effects, producing results; bringing into being; initiating change. (Rare except in philosophical and legal expression efficient cause = causative factor or agent.)
“Ownership, maintenance, or use of the automobile need not be the direct and efficient cause of the injury sustained”
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Efficient (adjective)
(proscribed, old use) Effective.
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Proficient (adjective)
Good at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill.
“He was a proficient writer with an interest in human nature.”
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Proficient (noun)
An expert.
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Efficient (adjective)
(of a system or machine) achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense
“more efficient processing of information”
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Efficient (adjective)
preventing the wasteful use of a particular resource
“an energy-efficient heating system”
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Efficient (adjective)
(of a person) working in a well-organized and competent way
“an efficient administrator”
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Proficient (adjective)
competent or skilled in doing or using something
“I was proficient at my job”
“she felt reasonably proficient in Italian”
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Proficient (noun)
a person who is proficient
“he became a proficient in Latin and Greek”