arrive
verb (used without object)
to come to a certain point in the course of travel; reach one's destination.
arrive
1 American
[uh-rahyv]
/ əˈraɪv /
verb (used without object)
-
arrives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
arrived,
past participle, past
-
arriving
present participle
-
to come to a certain point in the course of travel; reach one's destination.
He finally arrived in Rome.
-
to come to be near or present in time.
The moment to act has arrived.
-
to attain a position of success, power, achievement, fame, or the like.
After years of hard work, she has finally arrived in her field.
-
Archaic. to happen.
It arrived that the master had already departed.
verb (used with object)
-
arrives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
arrived,
past participle, past
-
arriving
present participle
verb phrase
arrivé
2
American
[ar-ee-vey, a -r ee-vey]
/ ˌær iˈveɪ, a riˈveɪ /
noun
-
arrivés
plural
arrive
British
/ əˈraɪv /
verb
-
to come to a certain place during or after a journey; reach a destination
-
(foll by at) to agree upon; reach
to arrive at a decision
-
to occur eventually
the moment arrived when pretence was useless
-
informal (of a baby) to be born
-
informal to attain success or gain recognition
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
arrivesimple
-
arrivessimple
-
have arrivedperfect
-
has arrivedperfect
-
am arrivingprogressive
-
are arrivingprogressive
-
is arrivingprogressive
-
have been arrivingperfect progressive
-
has been arrivingperfect progressive
Past
-
arrivedsimple
-
had arrivedperfect
-
was arrivingprogressive
-
were arrivingprogressive
-
had been arrivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of arrive1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English a(r)riven, from Old French a(r)river, from Vulgar Latin arrīpāre (unrecorded) “to come to land,” verb derivative of Latin ad rīpam “to the riverbank”; cf. river 1
Origin of arrivé2
First recorded in 1920–25; from French: literally, “arrived,” noun use of past participle of arriver “to arrive”; see arrive
Explanation
To arrive is to come to a destination. When you arrive in Paris, the first thing you should do is go and buy a croissant. The word arrive generally means to come to a physical destination, like a place. Make sure you arrive home on time for dinner! But it can also be less literal. You can arrive at a conclusion or a decision after much thought. You can also use arrive to mean "achieve great success," though for whatever reason, this specific usage tends to be in the past tense. If you serve champagne and caviar at a party, your snobby aunt might comment, "My dear, you’ve arrived!” In this case, arrive means to come to a place of great wealth or success.
Vocabulary lists containing arrive
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Lotus Seed"
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 3
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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 students arrive in college, they encounter a vague sense of freedom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
"We try to arrive to the wingers. We have a lot of quality in wingers."
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The PCE report will arrive later in August.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
With the constituency consisting of rural villages and seaside towns, the last ones should arrive by 23:30.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
I’d wondered whether I could make peace if I never knew what had happened, if I never knew when another call would arrive, if I never had answers to what had happened and why.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
The triumphant words shouted out by the men seemed more sorrowful than those of the De profundis: Allons, enfants de la patrie, Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 33, December, 1873 by Various
As I gently closed the door of the ward and stole out into the corridor on tip-toe, I heard again the martial chorus swelling into a tumult of joy: Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
From Leaves from a Field Note-Book by John Hartman Morgan
The first two verses of this new version will suffice to show its character: Allons, enfant de la patrie, La jour de gloire est arrivé.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. October, 1878. by Various
However deep his ignorance, it could not possibly be more finished than mine some dozen years ago; and yet I may say, Je suis arrivé!
From About Orchids A Chat by Frederick Boyle
Once in a year, however, I as the French say, doesn't make a custom, and the Parisian crowd, to quote its own expression, "croit que c'est arrivé."
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 26, September, 1880 by Various
Meanwhile the leading men of the guilds had become hommes arrivés.
From German Culture Past and Present by Ernest Belfort Bax
Once it arrives in the Middle East, it will be the third aircraft carrier in the area.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
But information arrives in fragments: a barcode result here, a recall notice there, a corrected FDA finding, a corporate statement, a congressional inquiry.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
The distribution arrives on schedule and the charity gets its money.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Trump arrives at Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the small aircraft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Ms. Parker says when everyone from room twelve arrives.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib told AFP Sunday that two water-bombing aircraft had arrived from Sweden, backing up four helicopters -- two Belgian and two Dutch -- already on site.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Anna Ho, an assistant professor of astronomy at Cornell University and a coauthor with Perley on the paper, identified the remarkable event soon after its light arrived at Earth.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Once they arrived, Schalk turned to Rodriguez, got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Reform's Laura Anne Jones said the UK government message on "action to protect communities from the growing threat posed by wildfires" arrived on mobiles in English after an equivalent in the Welsh language.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
“If you have to hide, stop and think what you arrived with. Besides which, you’re all simply too slow.”
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The black-and-white striped mosquitoes were first detected in 2013 in California, likely arriving via human travel and cargo transport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
“An unknown number of agents are constantly arriving in Minnesota without any knowledge of the investigation, the issues already discussed and decided, and the processes they need to follow,” Teirab complained.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Gibbons have also turned up in seizures: in November, customs officials in Bengaluru found, external one among exotic animals being brought in by passengers arriving from Bangkok.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
"A month ago there was nothing here. A rocky mountain, barely any trees, barely any shade. We're arriving now," new resident Reut Baran, 35, told AFP in front of her new home.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
The German army had been crippled by a sense of “looming defeat,” Ludendorff said, because of “the sheer number of Americans arriving daily at the front.”
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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.
