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Glite Dictionary
🔎 In practice 📜 Currently valid
in effect

in effect

81 3.7
Currently valid and must be followed
  • idiom
  • /ɪn ɪˈfɛkt/
  • Formal
translation icon : en vigor
  • That tariff has been in effect for half a century.
  • remain in effect
  • laws in effect
  • regulation is in effect

So I my backup plan is in effect immediately.

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Examples

  • The strength of most local laws in effect in 2009 was unchanged from their original form.

    Academic text (2013)

  • A high wind warning is in effect.

    Little Orphans (2020)

  • And that program has been in effect for some years.

  • This order will remain in effect until further notice.

    The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

  • Evacuation orders are in effect in the Greater New York area.

    The Fantastic 4: First Steps (2025)

  • Some of these provisions are already in effect, while others will kick in over the next several years.

    Academic text (2001)

  • A public health emergency is in effect in New York City this morning in response to the rapidly growing measles outbreak.

    Vaxxed II: The People's Truth (2020)

  • In 1980, the first full year during which the Bankruptcy Code was in effect, 331,264 bankruptcy cases were filed.

    Academic text (2017)

  • Regulations with the same requirements are already in effect in Canaveral, southwest Florida, and Gulf offshore areas.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The new safety regulations have been in effect since the start of the year.

Synonyms

effective
vsin effect
  • Formal
165 3.0

Beginning to be used from a particular date

is valid and enforced now without guaranteeing practical results
in operation
vsin effect
24 3.2

Working now and serving its purpose

is about legal validity and enforcement rather than active functioning
in force
vsin effect
  • Formal
19 3.9

A law or rule that is active now and must be followed

is the identical legal status expressed in the same terms as that phrase
effectual
vsin effect
  • Formal
1 7.5

Having legal force so it is valid and can be used in court

is valid and enforced now without focusing on producing outcomes

Antonyms

to repeal
  • Formal
143 4.3

To cancel a law or rule so it no longer applies

invalidated
  • Formal
6.3

Not legally valid and cannot be used in court

Surface Forms

in effect positive

Morphology

in + effect

The phrase combines 'in' + 'effect' where 'effect' here has a shifted meaning closer to 'force' or 'operation' (i.e. 'in operation' or 'in force'), so a learner who knows the constituents can often infer the general sense. However, the idiomatic, fixed usage ('in effect' = 'in practice' or 'operational') is a lexicalized usage that may not be fully predictable without exposure, making it partially but not fully transparent.

Etymology

In effect comes from the simple image of a law's effect being switched on and working. So when something is in effect it is 'in force' or 'valid'.