achieve
Americanverb (used with object)
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achieves,
present (3rd person singular)
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achieved,
past participle, past
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achieving
present participle
verb (used without object)
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achieves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
achieved,
past participle, past
-
achieving
present participle
verb
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to bring to a successful conclusion; accomplish; attain
-
to gain as by hard work or effort
to achieve success
Synonym Usage
See do 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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achievernoun
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superachievernoun
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outachieveverb (used with object)
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achievableadjective
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preachievedadjective
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unachievableadjective
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unachievedadjective
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well-achievedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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achievesimple
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achievessimple
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have achievedperfect
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has achievedperfect
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am achievingprogressive
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are achievingprogressive
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is achievingprogressive
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have been achievingperfect progressive
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has been achievingperfect progressive
Past
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achievedsimple
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had achievedperfect
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was achievingprogressive
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were achievingprogressive
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had been achievingperfect progressive
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.
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.
See Examples For:
"But if you increase disorder too much, you also lose stability. Our framework can help pinpoint the level of disorder that helps the system achieve optimal stability."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Those efforts will press ahead now that the Clarity Act has stalled, and together could achieve much of what the legislation sought to, analysts said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
"In order to achieve this, we used superfluid helium that had been cooled close to absolute zero at minus 273 degrees Celsius," explains Jesse Zhang, lead author of the study.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
Without clinical supervision, many patients will misuse and then discontinue the bogus products and achieve no lasting benefit.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
The way to achieve the ultimate liberation through lifelessness is to cease paying heed to the illusion of reality.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
The rub here is that there’s a difference between a film that becomes a cult classic because it’s genuinely underrated, and one that achieves that status through the unholy, rose-colored lens of social media obsession.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Successfully corralled, Franz earns the degree of doctor of law, and achieves success in the insurance industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Neil: Hopefully he helps the team progress and achieves Euro 2028 qualification.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
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
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
We would not have achieved this without exome sequencing, as the gene we identified wasn't an obvious candidate and little is known about Mal protein in red cells.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
It achieved just that, with some of the world's top female athletes going head-to-head in competitive events while also being allowed the space to express their personalities.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
It also highlighted concerns that British Steel's 4,052 workers face uncertainty and the steel strategy is still vague about when the 50% target would be achieved.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
But this “Our” also aspires to grander things, suggesting inclusivity, a hallmark of Mr. Dudamel’s 17 seasons at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he achieved international fame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Probably no divers other than the Mediterranean sponge divers who grew up on the water and earned their living by diving could have achieved it.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
After achieving success, some firms shed their solo status by adding employees or getting acquired by a larger firm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
When Tanisha Saunders graduated from college eight years ago, she felt optimistic that she was on her way to achieving an American dream that included homeownership.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
In his essay, Amodei called for "building AI at a balanced rate that aims to ensure its safety while still achieving its benefits".
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Until now, achieving such intense confinement at this scale had been considered extremely difficult.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
“But enough delay. Even greater things lie ahead, Reynard, much greater things, and we must waste no time achieving them.”
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
