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-vay, a -r ee-vay]
/ 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:
The category describes children who arrive in the United States without an adult, or whose parents were detained by immigration agents and are in shelters or government custody.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
He may arrive back in Backa Topola prior to Sunday's 19:45 BST kick-off.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
And they arrive with several special teams units that remain a concern for a star-studded team that opened the season as the overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
“By the time they arrive on campus, they are really looking towards deep, meaningful peer relationships.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
Pua’s parents arrive bright and early with breakfast enchiladas, and Auntie Nina comes with a crate of papayas.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
He will arrivé back here to-night tired as a dog, but once more at daybreak it will be Dominique who sets forth to carry the wounded man up to Fort Amitié.
From Fort Amity by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
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
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
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
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
Meanwhile the leading men of the guilds had become hommes arrivés.
From German Culture Past and Present by Ernest Belfort Bax
While Kelvin waves are common -- there are five or six during every El Nino -- this one arrives at a delicate time, said Amaya, with sea temperatures already elevated.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
As Fennell reminds us at the end of the film, justice — if it ever comes — often arrives too late, and at the expense of too many lives.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
“Once the metal arrives onshore in the United States it is actually no longer available for purchase by the world’s demand centers,” said Daniel Ghali, head of metals research at Deutsche Bank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
When she arrives at their imposing Vermont mansion to go through Verity’s notes, Lowen discovers that Verity’s a vegetable: completely physically and mentally indisposed after a car accident.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
And, like a mail-order snow shovel that gets lost by the post office and finally turns up in July, the gift of hindsight always arrives too late to be of practical use.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
The 34-year-old from Kuwait had arrived in the UK on a small boat 16 days earlier, having first entered country illegally four years earlier.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Uchimiya had arrived at work early Saturday and was waiting in his car outside Nobu Malibu, a high-end Japanese eatery known for celebrity sightings, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
Images from a neighbor's security camera included in the complaint allegedly show Zhang and her associate "appearing to film" the family as they arrived home one evening, CBS News said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Meanwhile, Sánchez's administration has struggled to manage the crisis in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa, where more than 70,000 migrants suddenly arrived in July.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
In the months since we’d arrived, Ba had taken inventory, cleaned and polished every item, and done everything he could think of to turn the store around.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
They were seen arriving back home at 11:00.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
But he said the planned price increases — which are arriving after the price cuts failed to improve sales — suggested deeper troubles.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
The Independent leads with an image of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, with his wife, arriving at a Labour conference at Liverpool on Saturday.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Since arriving in France on Friday, the pope has received a hero’s welcome.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
It was Lord Fredrick and his party, arriving at last.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
