accomplish
Americanverb (used with object)
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accomplishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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accomplished,
past participle, past
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accomplishing
present participle
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to bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish.
to accomplish one's mission.
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to complete (a distance or period of time).
to have accomplished the age of 70;
We accomplished the journey in little more than an hour.
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Archaic. to provide polish to; perfect.
verb
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to manage to do; achieve
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to conclude successfully; complete
Usage
What does accomplish mean? Accomplish means to carry out or finish an action—to complete what you set out to do. To accomplish a goal is to complete it. Accomplish is often (though not always) used in the context of completing a set goal—one that is planned or desired before it is accomplished. Accomplish is generally used in a positive way in the context of completing beneficial goals (though a person can accomplish bad things—many supervillains hope to accomplish a global takeover). The completion of a goal or anything accomplished can be called an accomplishment, which means about the same thing as achievement. Someone who has accomplished many impressive things in life or in their career can be described with the adjective accomplished. It’s especially used to indicate that a person is very experienced, skilled, and perhaps awarded in their field, as in an accomplished singer. Much less commonly, accomplish can mean to reach a destination or certain age, as in I never thought I would accomplish the age of 100. Example: I’m hoping to accomplish everything on my to-do list today.
Synonym Usage
See do 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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accomplishernoun
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preaccomplishverb (used with object)
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accomplishableadjective
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unaccomplishableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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accomplishsimple
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accomplishessimple
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have accomplishedperfect
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has accomplishedperfect
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am accomplishingprogressive
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are accomplishingprogressive
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is accomplishingprogressive
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have been accomplishingperfect progressive
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has been accomplishingperfect progressive
Past
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accomplishedsimple
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had accomplishedperfect
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was accomplishingprogressive
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were accomplishingprogressive
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had been accomplishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accomplish
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French accompliss-, stem of acomplir, equivalent to a- ac- + complir, ultimately from Latin complēre “to fill”; see complete, -ish 2
Explanation
To accomplish something is to get it done. People usually accomplish things that are sources of pride — like goals or records. But people accomplish immoral acts as well — like scandals or cons. The verb accomplish also means to bring about or put into effect. The CEO stood before the employees and outlined all she expected to be accomplished in the next year. She ended her speech by saying, "If we are to accomplish this, we must all work together — and work hard — but the rewards if we succeed will be great both for the company and for those that work here. Thank you for your efforts!"
Vocabulary lists containing accomplish
List 1
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PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The talking heads are all too willing to critique Hurts and others like Kyrie Irving and Angel Reese, only to eat crow each time they accomplish something on the field or on the court.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
To accomplish this, they turned to a technique known as chemically induced proximity, which uses chemical connections to bring together molecules that normally interact only rarely, if at all.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
“A substantial custodial sentence is necessary to deter other private clients from attempting to corrupt law-enforcement officers by paying them to perform acts they could never lawfully accomplish themselves,” Assistant U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
"He was someone who had come through the same doors, trained in the same club and gone on to accomplish incredible things."
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Knowing, though, how thrilled our father was by what his kids had managed to accomplish, neither of us ever brought up our discontent over dinner.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Use of the market path accomplishes at least two things that are important to Warsh: It preserves market signals and it gets the Fed out of forward interest-rate guidance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Harvard chip accomplishes this using tiny electrical currents.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
That’s still not a reason for a “second best” policy that accomplishes no real goal except to distort market choices in favor of lighter vehicles that have been estimated to kill 3,000-plus motorists a year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
Part of the issue is that much of the good that a president accomplishes occurs during the first year of a term—and is immediately priced in.
From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026
Indeed, it is more or less taken as modern gospel that profound scientific truth frequently accomplishes the opposite of what Epicurus recommended, costing us peace of mind.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
Even more impressive is how quickly Perseverance accomplished the feat.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026
However, that same make-or-break standard hasn’t been applied to many of Hurts’ peers, even those who have accomplished less than Hurts.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
Whenever a teammate needs a pep talk McKennah Iamaleava is quick to give it — a skill one learns growing up in a family full of accomplished athletes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
"He said that together we have accomplished extraordinary things... But there is still a mission to complete."
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
Mission accomplished, he found a few scraps for himself, too.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
Anthropic’s revenue “is a proxy for how well they are accomplishing their mission,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
"Given the critical shortage of air defense missiles from our partners, our warriors are accomplishing truly incredible things," Zelensky said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
“What is keeping Tesla back from accomplishing these short-term goals that they’ve set for themselves?”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Buffett was an enthusiastic supporter of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stating in 2006 he "greatly" admired what it was accomplishing and promised to make yearly donations.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The obvious difficulties of sterilizing by radiation have led to search for an easier method of accomplishing similar results, and there is now a strongly running tide of interest in chemical sterilants.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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