What is the difference between 'exerting power' and 'exercising power'? I've heard both in very similar contexts, and cannot tell if there's a nuance of meaning that I've missed. Dictionaries didn't help either.
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Dictionaries didn't help? I find that hard to believe!– marcellothearcaneCommented Jul 21, 2020 at 9:12
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2 Answers
To exercise power would be to use power.
To exert power would be to make a forceful effort to use power.
So, the nuance affects how they would be used in a sentence.
The manager exercised his power over his employees by firing one of them as an example.
The body builder exerted his power to lift the two-hundred-pound weight.
In those two examples there is a connotation that the manager used his power in an effortless manner, whereas the body builder had to make an effort to use his power; which is why exerted was chosen instead of used.
"To exercise" implies no special norm in the wielding of power, whereas "to exert" carries the idea of exercising power with a will.
This is clear from the definition in SOED.
- exert 4 v.t. Exercise, apply, bring to bear, (a quality, force, etc.) esp. with considerable effort or effect.
