Synonyms

achieve

American

[uh-cheev] / əˈtʃiv /

verb (used with object)

to bring to a successful end; carry through; accomplish.

The police crackdown on speeders achieved its purpose.

Synonyms:

reach, realize, execute, effect, complete, consummate
to get or attain by effort; gain; obtain.

to achieve victory.

Synonyms:

win, realize

verb (used without object)

to bring about an intended result; accomplish some purpose or effect.

achieve British

/ əˈtʃiːv /

verb

to bring to a successful conclusion; accomplish; attain
to gain as by hard work or effort

to achieve success

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See do ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

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.

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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:

achieve achieves achieved achieving

The company said it remains on track to achieve full-year guidance despite operating in an increasingly challenging market environment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

It was at this meeting that Peake told Efan the practical steps on how to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

SpaceX on Wednesday unveiled its latest artificial-intelligence model, which could help it achieve CEO Elon Musk’s revenue goals.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

"We are in this process to achieve a democratic and free Venezuela," the politician wrote on X on Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

So, too, a boat capable of sailing into the wind uses natural forces to achieve a result that would not occur in nature.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

As the company achieves notable growth — sales more than doubled in the latest quarter — it’s also impressing Wall Street with its profit performance.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

His film is likable as heck but never quite achieves liftoff.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

They said the new deal "achieves this without any government funding or cost to taxpayers".

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Although it cannot match Starship's enormous lifting capacity, it achieves much greater efficiency.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

He ultimately achieves a personal and moral victory by finding the bad guy and throwing him in jail.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Thus far, no company has achieved an “insurmountable lead,” according to Lee.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

“Nimblewill Nomad” Eberhart, who knew my parents, achieved this feat at age 83 in 2021, taking the honor from Greybeard, who set a record at age 82 in 2017.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

She achieved international fame that decade with the release of her "Total Eclipse" mega-hit, which topped the charts in the United States and Britain.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Zambia has a long record of transferring power through the ballot box, with every change of president since the return to multiparty politics in 1991 achieved through elections.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

More than anything, I don’t want to mess up the balance I achieved at the Ranch.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

"Anybody can do what I'm achieving if they do it right and plant the right varieties in the right type of location and if they have the skills and knowledge," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Losing weight can reduce some of these risks, but achieving substantial weight loss through diet and exercise alone can be difficult.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

Then-CEO Hassabis founded the company in 2010 with the goal of achieving artificial general intelligence, or AGI — an AI system that matches or surpasses human capabilities.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Macquarie doesn’t see ASX achieving its A$150 million additional capital target at the end of FY27.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Harry kicked it, achieving nothing but an excruciating pain in his big toe.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023