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Glite Dictionary
personal effects

personal effects

33 3.5
Small personal items a person carries, like clothes or jewelry
  • noun
  • /ˈpɜrsənl ɪˈfɛkts/
translation icon : efectos personales
  • After the party, she took her personal effects, including her jacket and bag, home with her.
  • clothing and personal effects
  • family's personal effects

Got lots of personal effects and artifacts for humans to grab.

Examples

  • "In just a few minutes they were back inside their house, with David's personal effects once again spread on the table.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • You wanna get his personal effects?

    Presumed Dead (2006)

  • And a whole bunch of other personal effects from the plane.

    Flight (2012)

  • Any personal effects in that?

    Blood Work (2002)

  • I'd like to see the personal effects.

    Payne & Redemption (2022)

  • At his side, a small suitcase containing her personal effects.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • You'll probably find the policy among his personal effects.

    Double Indemnity (1944)

  • Alone, Dad returned to Fleischmanns to remove some personal effects.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Here are the Jacobis' personal effects, as discussed.

    Red Dragon (2002)

  • Proceed to the checkout area to receive your personal effects.

    Death Collector (1988)

Synonyms

stuff
vspersonal effects
  • Informal
∞ 1.0

Things a person owns or carries

is specifically about someone's small portable items and excludes business possessions
private property
vspersonal effects
68 2.8

Things you can move, like cars or jewelry, that belong to one person, not land

is about someone's small portable items that exclude business use
personal property
vspersonal effects
  • Specialized
16 3.1

Things a person owns that can be moved, like furniture or jewelry

is smaller in everyday use, focusing on portable items and excluding business goods
belongings
vspersonal effects
1 1.0

Things a person owns and can carry

is about someone's own portable items that also exclude business use
personal estate
vspersonal effects
  • Formal
1 6.1

Things someone owns that can be moved, not land and buildings, like a car or jewelry

is narrower, focusing on small portable items often excluding business goods
effects
vspersonal effects
4.8

Personal items a person owns that they can carry

is identical in meaning, not different in use or scope
personalty
vspersonal effects
  • Formal
9.9

Things a person owns that can be moved, not land or buildings

is everyday portable items for a person, not a formal legal category

How Portable

personal effects
33 3.5
personal chattel
  • Formal
8.2
furniture
588 1.0
fixture
47 3.6
land
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

personal effects singular
personal effects plural

Morphology

personal + effects

The meaning 'someone's portable belongings' is compositionally derived from 'personal' (relating to a particular person's private life) and 'effects' (items/possessions). This is a literal, commonly attested noun–noun combination used in many languages and follows standard compounding logic, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Personal effects comes from the old use of effects to mean a person's belongings. People used the phrase when listing a dead person's 'personal effects' or when packing for a trip, so today personal effects means the small, personal things someone owns or carries.