Synergy
noun /ˈsɪnədʒi/ — When together produces more than the sum of separate parts.
Definition
The interaction or cooperation of two or more people, organisations, or ideas to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
Beyond the definition
The most mocked word in corporate vocabulary — and yet the concept is real and profound. When the right people, ideas, or materials combine, something genuinely new emerges. The word doesn't deserve what has been done to it.
Origin & history
From Greek synergía — working together (syn- 'together' + ergon 'work'). From the same root as energy.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The synergy between the two teams produced a product neither could have built alone.
Good partnerships have synergy — you'd both do less without the other.
Synergy is real. It just doesn't happen automatically when you put people in the same room.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Synergy” when the meaning fits your context: The interaction or cooperation of two or more people, organisations, or ideas to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
Synonyms
cooperation, collaboration, combined force, integration
Antonyms
conflict, fragmentation, redundancy
Related words
Synergy vs collaboration
Collaboration is working together — people combining efforts toward a shared goal. Synergy is what happens when the combination produces something more than either could alone — the emergent property of the partnership. You can collaborate without achieving synergy; synergy is the best-case outcome of good collaboration. Collaboration describes the process; synergy describes the result when that process genuinely multiplies what each party could do independently.
Word in the Wild
Illustrative story: an imagined scene, not a documented event or interview.
The two companies had nothing obvious in common — one made precision instruments, one worked in data analytics. The partnership made no strategic sense on paper.
Three years later, the product they'd built together was something neither could have conceived alone — it required both the physical sensing the instruments provided and the pattern recognition the data team had developed. The intersection had been empty until two people at a dinner decided to explore it.
The product exists because no one had told either company that the collaboration wasn't logical. Sometimes the most useful combinations are the ones the analysts didn't design.
Questions about this word
What does "Synergy" mean?
Synergy is noun meaning: When together produces more than the sum of separate parts.. The interaction or cooperation of two or more people, organisations, or ideas to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
Where does the word "Synergy" come from?
From Greek synergía — working together (syn- 'together' + ergon 'work'). From the same root as energy.