achieve
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to bring to a successful conclusion; accomplish; attain
-
to gain as by hard work or effort
to achieve success
Related Words
See do 1.
Other Word Forms
- achievable adjective
- achiever noun
- outachieve verb (used with object)
- preachieved adjective
- superachiever noun
- unachievable adjective
- unachieved adjective
- well-achieved adjective
Etymology
Origin of achieve
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English acheven, from Old French achever “to finish,” from phrase a chef “to (the) head,” i.e., “to conclusion”; see chief
Explanation
If you achieve something, you've reached a goal. Achievements aren't accidents. If you stumble upon a treasure chest, you haven't achieved something; however, achieving a promotion to become CEO is another story. If someone asks you to give an example of the word achieve, you can always reach for Shakespeare's much quoted remark from his play Twelfth Night. In Act II, Scene V, the character Malvolio says, ". . . some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." Pundits like to throw that quote around when talking about politicians. Of course, they usually disagree about if, when, and how the politician achieved greatness.
Vocabulary lists containing achieve
The AP English Exam: The Language of the Test
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Workshop 1, Part 1
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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.
They’ll be more likely to achieve their financial goals by sharing expenses and investments.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026
"We show that development can achieve this feat of organizing a thousand different smell receptors into an incredibly precise map that's consistent across animals," Datta said.
From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2026
The justices held that Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act doesn’t require states to draw election districts to achieve racial proportionality.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
Such companies can achieve fairly high earnings growth in this environment.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
They discovered that they could achieve much better results by sowing the grains deep in the ground rather than haphazardly scattering them on the surface.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
