success
Americannoun
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successes
plural
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the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.
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the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
- Synonyms:
- triumph, accomplishment, achievement
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a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors.
The play was an instant success.
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a person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth, etc..
She was a great success on the talk show.
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Obsolete. outcome.
noun
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the favourable outcome of something attempted
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the attainment of wealth, fame, etc
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an action, performance, etc, that is characterized by success
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a person or thing that is successful
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obsolete any outcome
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonsuccessnoun
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presuccessnoun
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successlessnessnoun
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semisuccessadjective
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successlessadjective
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successlesslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of success
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin successus, equivalent to succēd-, stem of succēdere succeed + -tus suffix of verb action, with -dt- regularly becoming -ss-
Explanation
For some students, success in school means getting As and Bs. For others, it means getting straight As, starring in the school play, and winning the class election. Success means achieving a goal, and everyone's goals are different. We tend to think of success as a triumph or victory, but if you look at its linguistic roots in Latin, success literally just means "result." At some point several centuries ago people probably began using success as shorthand for "good success," and eventually they dropped the good altogether. That would explain why in formal settings you still occasionally hear the phrase "good success," even though we now think of all successes as good.
Vocabulary lists containing success
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 5
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"Kids Are Inventors, Too"
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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:
As well as the collective success of both sides, the individuals starring at PSG and Barcelona are among the world's best.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
The success of Muse won’t be immediately apparent in this quarter’s results, according to analysts.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
In its next stages Spectr will be able to help plan operations, providing commanders a menu of options for how to carry out a mission as well as each suggestion’s probability of success.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
In the LP’s immediate aftermath, the English musician hungrily scooped up the spoils of her success — playing Coachella’s main stage, starring in a highbrow mockumentary, soundtracking Hollywood’s latest take on “Wuthering Heights.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
He should never forget that his future success depended on public opinion.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Like in Syria, Turkey was also closely watching Iraq's own efforts "to disarm militia groups and bring them under state control", he said, hailing recent successes in the Sinjar region.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
Over time, though, they began to clash over decisions, and over who deserved credit and recognition for Two Sigma’s successes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
Existing therapies based on engineered T cells have achieved their greatest successes against certain blood cancers, but treating solid tumors has proven more difficult.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
He said MI5's successes in identifying and expelling Russian spies from the UK had left the Kremlin dependent on paying proxies for attempted attacks.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
The people in it who were regarded as successes were those who had always said “buy.”
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
