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
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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:
Sabina told us it would take 30 minutes for one to arrive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Storms will start to arrive on Friday, with stray showers in isolated areas and maximum temperatures 5 to 10 degrees below normal, according to the forecast from the National Weather Service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
We didn’t run the numbers on childcare for the second baby we wanted to have, who would arrive the year after we bought the house.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
As I arrive at Waterstones in York shortly before 08:00, there is already a queue forming outside the bookshop.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
But that day seems not to want to arrive, and the journey has begun to take its toll on all of us.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
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
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
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
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
Meanwhile the leading men of the guilds had become hommes arrivés.
From German Culture Past and Present by Ernest Belfort Bax
The correction, when it comes, travels in the opposite direction and arrives nowhere.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026
These additional regions help slow the solar wind before it arrives at the primary shock boundary.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
Its most expensive delivery arrives in a wheelbarrow.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Yet, the movie’s biggest set piece arrives with zero buildup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
The sealed envelope hangs from the second topmost button of her coat, until Prospero arrives.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Residents of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, ravaged by years of war, arrived in Ukraine on Saturday after being evacuated via Belarus during a rare truce brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026
Residents evacuated from the devastated Russian-occupied city of Oleshky have arrived in Belarus and are expected back in Ukraine later on Saturday, authorities have said.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Lagarde was still reeling from the recent death of her father when she arrived in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and was for months homesick for France.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
Judy Reyes was nursing a severe case of homesickness when she arrived in Los Angeles nearly 25 years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Something major had happened to those strands over the summer, but now April had arrived with me no closer to solving the mystery.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Working out how that happened may reveal why evolution keeps arriving at the same solution.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
Dozens of critically endangered tortoises were sent by a German commercial breeder to a defunct zoo in Togo, then to Belgium before arriving in India.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
The company plans to bring smoked brisket back to menus next month, and said other menu additions would be arriving next year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
He said the administration’s method for arriving at its list of potential noncitizen voters was unclear and that he would like to develop the record further, including by bringing in an expert for the court.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
“On arriving at our new positions in the Argonne Forest, we found out that...the fighting at this point must have been terrific,” recalled Private McGuire, an American artilleryman.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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