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-vey, a -r ee-vey]
/ 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:
Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, are expected to arrive in New Delhi as early as Friday, with both due to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
However, about 82% of this backlog won’t arrive for at least eight years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Punishingly hot temperatures coupled with drastically high humidity will peak Wednesday, making temperatures feel even more intense than previously blistering days, with real relief not expected to arrive until Friday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Milwaukee’s festival calendar stretches well beyond these two, so if your visit overlaps with one, it’s worth checking the city’s full schedule before you arrive.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
I find my way to the bleachers just as Legend and Quince arrive.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
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
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
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
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
Meanwhile the leading men of the guilds had become hommes arrivés.
From German Culture Past and Present by Ernest Belfort Bax
Verstappen arrives and briefly adjusts the fan blowing in our direction.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Twelve months after RSI arrives, open-source models will make this technology available, unfiltered, to everyone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Later this month Xi arrives in Washington for a return visit, and he may reach for the phrase again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
As she says it, though, Jeon and co-star Cho Yeo-jeong are laughing — making the assertion rather harder to believe when it arrives in English from Korean via an interpreter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
I don’t mean that she comes home, goes to her room to change clothes, wanders into the bathroom, picks through mail, and then finally arrives at the refrigerator.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Zelensky and his wife arrived safely in Oslo on Tuesday evening, where he held talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and other officials about military aid.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
He is still haunted by cases where sellers could not be located, or the team arrived too late, finding the creatures either dead or so sickly they died soon after rescue.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
More than a minute before a Boeing 767 arrived at a Miami airport Sunday, one pilot warned the plane was coming in too fast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The 49ers arrived here last week, and based on Shanahan’s comments a few days before the game, his feelings about the Rams and the situation have not mellowed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
A tall sallow-faced young man arrived from Pickwick one morning to teach me how to conduct the drills.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Shortly after arriving, Davis met someone at a party whose wife worked at the motion picture academy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The emissions had traveled for approximately four to five billion years before arriving at Earth.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
“I thought Neil Patrick Harris arriving on the set in an SS uniform might clear it up.”
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
While having a drink in a bar shortly after arriving in Venezuela, he carelessly made a slighting comment about Simón Bolívar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
There was a sudden spray of mist, and everyone turned to see a pod of whales arriving.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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.
