accomplishment

[ uh-kom-plish-muhnt ]

noun

1. an act or instance of carrying into effect; fulfillment:

   the accomplishment of our desires.

   Synonyms: execution, completion

   Antonyms: failure

2. something done admirably or creditably:

   Space exploration is a major accomplishment of science.

3. anything accomplished; deed; achievement:

   a career measured in a series of small accomplishments.

   Synonyms: consummation

4. Often accomplishments.
   1. a grace, skill, or knowledge expected in polite society.
   2. any acquired ability or knowledge.

   Synonyms: proficiency, acquisition

accomplishment

/ əˈkʌm-; əˈkɒmplɪʃmənt /

noun

1. the act of carrying out or achieving
2. something achieved or successfully completed
3. often plural skill or talent
4. often plural social grace, style, and poise

Other Words From

• preac·complish·ment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of accomplishment¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; accomplish + -ment; compare French accomplissement

Example Sentences

Most Valuable Player tends to favor how well a player does at lifting her team, a nexus of individual accomplishment and team record.

From FiveThirtyEight

A great accomplishment, unfortunately, would be to get back to where they were before this pandemic started.

From Science News

They say listening to podcasts makes you smarter, and if the accomplishments of Fortune’s 40 under 40 are anything to go by, that certainly appears to be true.

From Fortune

Vice presidents must always strike an awkward balance — develop their own political brands while also getting at least some credit for the accomplishments of the administrations they were part of.

From FiveThirtyEight

In a memo announcing Vacchi’s appointment to deputy chief operating officer for neighborhood services in 2018, Michell hailed his accomplishments as development services director.

From Voice of San Diego

But millions of rules result in perpetual error, and, as a terminal side effect, make leadership and accomplishment illegal.

From The Daily Beast

Every president hopes to have at least one signature accomplishment or issue his administration can be remembered for.

From The Daily Beast

A wonderful accomplishment by Kevin and his team and a thrill for Les and Leslie Parrott.

From The Daily Beast

Time and again, the author confuses chattering class dissatisfaction with an honest assessment of accomplishment.

From The Daily Beast

Earthlings, we can celebrate the accomplishment of landing a probe on a new world.

From The Daily Beast

And being devoid of ambition, and striving not toward accomplishment, she drew satisfaction from the work in itself.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet all of them are to be viewed as having been performed in order to the accomplishment of the Covenant's design.

From Project Gutenberg

The speed of the movement probably varies; it may at times require some thousand years for its accomplishment.

From Project Gutenberg

No accomplishment within the scope of human knowledge is so beautiful in all its features as that of epistolary correspondence.

From Project Gutenberg

Afterwards, finding no special use for this accomplishment, he gave it up entirely.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ability
• achievement
• capability
• deed
• effort
• exploit
• feat
• performance
• skill
• talent
• triumph

More About Accomplishment

What does accomplishment mean?

An accomplishment is something that has been accomplished—achieved, carried out, or finished. To accomplish a goal is to complete it.

The word achievement means about the same thing. Accomplish and achieve can be used as synonyms, but they sometimes imply slightly different things. Achieve and achievement often imply the completion of something important or difficult—a lofty goal or a great feat. You can accomplish a lofty goal or a great feat, but the word accomplish itself doesn’t typically imply this. Rather, it usually just means to complete something (regardless of how impressive it is).

However, this sense of accomplishment is usually used in the context of the completion of actions or goals that are at least somewhat impressive—or that take a good amount of effort. Graduating high school is an accomplishment. Learning a new language is an accomplishment.

Accomplishment can also refer to the act of accomplishing, as in We need to focus on the accomplishment of these goals. This sense of the word doesn’t typically imply impressiveness by itself—it means the same thing as completion.

Example: Make sure you list all your major accomplishments on your resume.

Where does accomplishment come from?

The first records of the word accomplishment come from the 1400s. It comes from the Old French acomplir, meaning “to complete,” ultimately from the Latin complēre, which means to “to fill up” and is also the basis of the word complete. The suffix -ment is used to form nouns.

Accomplishment is often (though not always) used in the context of completing a set goal—one that is planned or desired before it is accomplished. Accomplishment is generally used in a positive way in the context of completing beneficial goals (though an accomplishment can involve bad things—taking over the world might be an accomplishment for a supervillain).

Did you know … ?

What are some other forms related to accomplishment?

• accomplish (verb)

What are some synonyms for accomplishment?

• achievement
• completion
• fulfillment
• attainment

What are some words that share a root or word element with accomplishment? 

 

• accomplished
• complete
• fait accompli

 

What are some words that often get used in discussing accomplishment?

 

• goal
• mission
• succeed
• task
• feat
• extraordinary

 

How is accomplishment used in real life?

Accomplishment is very commonly used. It’s usually used in a positive way.

So many people are tweeting their accomplishments and everything that they published this year and I'm sitting here congratulating myself on managing to get out of bed every day. If you feel the same way, you aren't alone.

— Michele Filgate (@readandbreathe) December 17, 2020

Negro League statistics from 1920–48 will now be officially classified as "major league," marking a long-overdue acknowledgment of the accomplishments of players who didn’t have the opportunity to play in the American or National Leagues. @benlindbergh: https://t.co/FPHjg8m2Wo

— The Ringer (@ringer) December 16, 2020

State Govt has instructed all Depts to focus on accomplishment of Sustainable Development Goals. During the recently held Fiscal Performance Meeting in the Secretariat, Chief Secretary has directed all Depts. to prepare the Annual Work Plan based on the priorities of this Govt. pic.twitter.com/VbS4Mlr8wf

— I & PR Department, Odisha (@IPR_Odisha) June 13, 2019

Try using accomplishment!

Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of accomplishment?

A. achievement

B. completion

C. failure

D. attainment