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conatus

conatus

9.9
A short effort to do something, often in old writing
  • noun
  • /kəˈneɪtəs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : conatus
  • The author's latest novel is a conatus to explore the complexities of human desire.

Examples

  • His poem was a conatus, capturing the struggles faced in pursuing one’s dreams.

  • In her speech, she described the conatus of the community to nurture artistic expression.

  • The institution and society at large, most probably, take the teleological view of the implementation of this program, while our conatus would only allow a deontological perspective.

    Academic text (2002)

Synonyms

attempt
vsconatus
1.0

A try to do something, often when it is difficult

is used mostly in literary or archaic contexts rather than common speech
try
vsconatus
  • Specialized
423 1.0

An attempt to do something

is mainly used in literary or archaic contexts rather than everyday usage

Antonyms

39 4.9

Not doing anything when something should be done

How Effortful

feat
108 3.8
struggle
466 3.2
endeavor
  • US
171 4.1
conatus
  • Archaic
9.9
effort
1.0
try
  • Specialized
423 1.0

Surface Forms

conatus singular
conatuses plural

Etymology

Conatus comes from the Latin verb conari, which means 'to try', so it was used for an 'effort' or 'attempt'. That's why conatus can mean a single try or effort to do something.