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:
When asked about expectations that Leading the Future would try to match Fairshake’s success, Kovacevich said that “in politics, you’re always looking to see what worked before you.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
"Now we're starting to see them delivering in the Premier League for us which is a fantastic success story but real testament to them and their hard work."
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
“By all quantifiable measures, this year has been an overwhelming success for biotech IPOs,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Voters tend to pocket success and focus on what’s bothering them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Dasch wanted to use his underappreciated intelligence and find success, to make his mark on the world.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
Given the recent successes, I did go ahead and re-up for next year because I’m feeling optimistic.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Today, I feel very differently, as I am sure people connected with the other clubs affected by City's successes in the same period, between 2009 and 2018, do too.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Those successes have depended on digitally unrolling CT scans and then using machine learning to detect extremely subtle changes in texture or shape associated with ancient ink.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
It’s tempting to extrapolate our successes or sacrifices and say, “I did it. Why can’t you?”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026
It was unfair to blame her for the fictional zero-sum game of her successes equaling his failures.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Definitions 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.
