strive

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English striven (“to strive”), from Old French estriver (“to compete, quarrel”), from Old French estrif (“quarrel, dispute”), alteration (influenced by Germanic forms related to Frankish *strīban (“to strive”), from Proto-Germanic *strībaną, *stribjaną, *stribōną; compare Middle Dutch streven (“to strive”), German streben (“to strive”)) of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French estrit, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  *strīd (“quarrel, dispute”) from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *strīdō (“combat, strife”). Akin to Old High German strīt (“quarrel”) (German Streit), Old High German strītan (“to fight”), Old Norse stríð (“strife, contention”). More at stride.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɹaɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪv

Verb

strive (third-person singular simple present strives, present participle striving, simple past strove or strived, past participle striven or strived)

1. To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently.

   He strove to excel.

   to strive for the truth

2. To struggle in opposition; to be in contention or dispute; to contend; to contest.

   to strive against fate

   • (Can we date this quote by Denham and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Now private pity strove with public hate, / Reason with rage, and eloquence with fate.

3. To vie; to compete as a rival.
   • 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:

     [Not] that sweet grove / Of Daphne, by Orontes and the inspired / Castalian spring, might with this paradise / Of Eden strive.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
• The strong or irregular forms "strove" and "striven" are more commonly used in print than "strived".

Conjugation

Conjugation of strive

infinitive	(to) strive
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	strive	striveed
2nd-person singular
3rd-person singular	strives
plural	strive
subjunctive	strive	striveed
imperative	strive	—
participles	striveing	striveed

Related terms

• strife

Translations

to try to achieve

• American Sign Language: S@NearInsideChesthigh-PalmAcross-S@NearInsideChesthigh-PalmAcross S@InsideChesthigh-PalmDown-S@InsideChesthigh-PalmDown
• Arabic: كَافَحَ (ar) (kāfaḥa), اِجْتَهَدَ (ijtahada), نَاضَلَ (nāḍala), حَرَصَ (ḥaraṣa), جَدَّ (ar) (jadda), جَاهَدَ (jāhada)
• Belarusian: імкнуцца (imknucca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 努力 (zh) (nǔlì), 奮鬥／奋斗 (zh) (fèndòu), 奋斗 (zh) (fèndòu), 殫力／殚力 (zh) (dānlì), 殚力 (zh) (dānlì), 力圖／力图 (zh) (lìtú), 力图 (zh) (lìtú), 掙／挣 (zh), 挣 (zh) (zhèng)

• Czech: usilovat (cs), snažit se (cs) impf
• Danish: stræbe efter, hige efter
• Dutch: streven (nl)
• Esperanto: strebi (eo)
• Finnish: pyrkiä (fi), ponnistella (fi), yrittää (fi)
• French: s’efforcer (fr)
• Georgian: სწრაფვა (sc̣rapva), მცდელობა (mcdeloba), ცდა (cda), ბრძოლა (brʒola)
• German: streben (de), sich bemühen, sich anstrengen, ringen um, sich einsetzen für
• Indonesian: berjuang, memperjuangkan, bersusah payah
• Irish: bí ag dréim

  Old Irish: ad·cosnai (to strive after)

• Italian: sforzarsi (it), cercare (it), ambire (it), arrabattarsi, ingegnarsi (it), adoperarsi (it)
• Japanese: 努力する (どりょくする, doryoku-suru), 闘う (ja) (たたかう, tatakau), 努める (ja) (つとめる, tsutomeru), 奮闘する (ふんとうする, funtō-suru)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

• Latin: mōlior
• Lü: ᦀᦸᧅᧈᦶᦣᧂ (˙ʼoak¹haeng)
• Maori: oke, nanaiore, ngaki (mi)
• Norwegian: streve (no)
• Occitan: s'esforçar, s'esperforçar, luchar (oc)
• Polish: dążyć (pl), starać się (pl)
• Portuguese: esforçar-se, batalhar (pt)
• Russian: стреми́ться (ru) (stremítʹsja), стара́ться (ru) (starátʹsja), боро́ться (ru) (borótʹsja), прилага́ть уси́лия (ru) (prilagátʹ usílija)
• Shan: ၶတ်းၸႂ် (khát tsǎue)
• Slovak: snažiť sa, usilovať sa
• Slovene: stremeti, prizadevati si
• Spanish: esforzarse (es), afanarse (es)
• Swedish: sträva (sv)
• Telugu: కష్టించు (kaṣṭiñcu), కృషి చేయు (kr̥ṣi cēyu)
• Thai: พยายาม (th) (pá-yaa-yaam), เพียร (th) (piian), บากบั่น (th)
• Ukrainian: прагнути (prahnuty)
• Vietnamese: cố gắng (vi)
• Zhuang: roengzrengz, haenqrengz

to struggle in opposition

• Arabic: ≈ against جَاهَدَ (jāhada)
• Czech: čelit (cs) impf
• Finnish: taistella (fi), kamppailla (fi)
• French: ≈ against combattre (fr)
• German: ≈ against ringen (de) mit (de), sich (de) einsetzen (de) gegen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐρίζω (erízō)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: bí ag coimhlint
• Italian: lottare (it), battersi (it)
• Maori: oke
• Ngazidja Comorian: ≈ against uwana na
• Slovak: čeliť, bojovať

Etymology 2

Noun

strive (plural strives)

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of strife

Further reading

• “strive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “strive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Rivets, Stiver, rivest, rivets, stiver, tivers, verist