breakthrough
Americannoun
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a military movement or advance all the way through and beyond an enemy's frontline defense.
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an act or instance of removing or surpassing an obstruction or restriction; the overcoming of a stalemate.
The president reported a breakthrough in the treaty negotiations.
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any significant or sudden advance, development, achievement, or increase, as in scientific knowledge or diplomacy, that removes a barrier to progress.
The jet engine was a major breakthrough in air transport.
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Medicine/Medical. an infection, disease, disorder, or condition that occurs in an individual despite their having received a vaccine, medication, or treatment.
Covid breakthroughs are usually less severe than infections in unvaccinated people, indicating that the vaccine is still doing its job of combating the virus.
adjective
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constituting a breakthrough: Critics called it a breakthrough film.
Their products are engineered with breakthrough technology.
Critics called it a breakthrough film.
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Medicine/Medical. relating to or being an infection, disease, disorder, or condition that occurs as a breakthrough: She experienced disabling breakthrough pain despite the high dose of painkillers she was taking.
In the original vaccine trial, 89% of breakthrough infections were with a particular family of virus strains.
She experienced disabling breakthrough pain despite the high dose of painkillers she was taking.
Etymology
Origin of breakthrough
First recorded in 1915–20; noun use of verb phrase break through
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.
“All My Sons,” Miller’s breakthrough play about capitalism’s warped ethics in the guise of a domestic drama, just finished a successful run at Antaeus Theatre Company in Glendale.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
Amir Salek, senior managing director at Cerberus Capital Management, said he was convinced PrismML achieved a major mathematical breakthrough with the potential to improve the economics of AI.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Parents have described the breakthrough as "incredibly meaningful" and a starting point for better treatment and understanding of the condition.
From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026
Beyond its size, the breakthrough could have major implications for long-term data storage.
From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026
As if Ethan—world’s most underachieving online creeper—had anything to do with this breakthrough.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
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.
