adjective
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having succeeded in one's endeavours
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marked by a favourable outcome
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having obtained fame, wealth, etc
Usage
Spelling tips for successful The word successful is hard to spell because it can be hard to know which letters are doubled. Both the c and the middle s are doubled, but the f and l are not. How to spell successful: To be a success, you need to see (two Cs) Some Smarts (two Ss). This reminds you that success is spelled with a double C in the middle and a double S at the end. To spell successful, you add the base word (success) to the suffix -ful.
Other Word Forms
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half-successfulnessnoun
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successfulnessnoun
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half-successfuladjective
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nonsuccessfuladjective
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presuccessfuladjective
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quasi-successfuladjective
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semisuccessfuladjective
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half-successfullyadverb
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nonsuccessfullyadverb
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presuccessfullyadverb
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quasi-successfullyadverb
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semisuccessfullyadverb
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successfullyadverb
Etymology
Origin of successful
Explanation
If you win or do well, at whatever it is you do, you are successful. Successful people usually get more money, attention, and praise. If you go into business and make a lot of money, you're successful. If you play tennis and finish the season with more wins than losses, you've been successful. If you have a successful pregnancy, you give birth to a healthy baby. Successful is one of those words that covers a great deal of ground; it generally applies to anything, anyone or any venture that ends well. When you see the word successful, think "Winning!"
Vocabulary lists containing successful
Power Suffix: -ful
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 5
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"A Raisin in the Sun," "My Father is a Simple Man," and "My Mother Pieced Quilts"
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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.
As they prepare to return to the U.K. later this month, they leave behind a trail of entertainment projects—some successful, some not—that they embarked on after their move to Montecito in 2020.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Advice for a burned-out breadwinner: A letter writer who’s outwardly successful by all measures—a wife, kids, a well-paying job—can’t stop dreaming about leaving it all behind.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
"That's why the numbers we're seeing are so successful, and we're absolutely not complacent, and we must keep working this way to keep the numbers down," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
And the experimental cancer vaccine that she received is now making waves after the companies announced Wednesday that it had been successful in a Phase 3 trial.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
“Their panda conservation efforts have been so successful that the giant panda has become an international symbol for conserving wildlife.”
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
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.
