- past tense form of accomplish.
- past participle of accomplish.
accomplished
Americanadjective
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completed; done; effected.
an accomplished fact.
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highly skilled; expert.
an accomplished pianist.
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having all the social graces, manners, and other attainments of polite society.
adjective
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successfully completed; achieved
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expert; proficient
Usage
What does accomplished mean? Accomplished is used to describe someone who has achieved many impressive things in life or in their career. The verb accomplish means "to carry out or finish an action—to complete what you set out to do." To accomplish a goal is to complete it. Some who is considered accomplished has accomplished a lot. The word is especially used to indicate that a person is very experienced, skilled, and perhaps awarded in their field. It is often paired with words for different professions or hobbies, as in accomplished pianist, accomplished surgeon, and accomplished baker. The word can also be used to describe a work that is considered a special achievement, as in His new album is an accomplished entry in his catalog of work. Example: Tina is an accomplished coder—you could learn a lot from her.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of accomplished
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; accomplish + -ed 2
Explanation
The adjective accomplished is useful for describing someone who's very good at something. You might use it to talk about yourself if you are an accomplished — or highly skilled — sword swallower. An accomplished ice skater is someone who can do one of those fancy twirls on the ice, and an accomplished cupcake baker is someone you want to be friends with. Another way to use the word accomplished is to mean "successfully completed or finished." You might say, "I accomplished my goal of climbing the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River." Next up: Everest.
Vocabulary lists containing accomplished
Words to Describe Yourself on a Resume
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Are You Experienced? Synonyms for "Expert"
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Pro Tips: Synonyms for "Skilled"
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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.
Stribling was also an accomplished jazz singer and radio personality, who lost a two-year battle with brain cancer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
You could see the logic of him not playing wing-back against the accomplished Swiss, but no such threat exists against North Macedonia.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Scientists had already accomplished such a measurement for the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger -- GHZ -- state, one of the best known forms of multi-photon entanglement.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
There’s a term for this: the pratfall effect, named for a 1966 psychological experiment which found that highly accomplished people become more appealing to others when they make minor screwups.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
She was good enough for Mr. Elton, no doubt; accomplished enough for Highbury—handsome enough—to look plain, probably, by Harriet’s side.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
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.
