- past participle of drive.
driven
Americanverb
adjective
-
being under compulsion, as to succeed or excel.
a driven young man who was fiercely competitive.
-
controlled or propelled by something specified (used in combination).
a market-driven approach to retaining talent; data-driven business strategies; a water pump that is solar driven.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of driven
First recorded in 1300–50, for the adjective for an earlier sense
Explanation
If you're driven, you're strongly compelled or motivated to achieve a goal. If you're a driven gymnast, you spend hours in the gym each night perfecting your balance beam routine. If you know someone who is incredibly ambitious and hard working, you can call them driven. It takes a driven student to make it through medical school, and a driven dog musher to complete the Iditarod. In other words, you need drive, or determination, to achieve these things. Driven can also mean "moved and piled into drifts by wind," often in the phrase "driven snow." When combined with another noun, it can mean "propelled or powered," as in "a wind-driven boat."
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.
Time crystals are unusual physical systems whose internal behavior repeats in a regular rhythm over time, even though they are not being driven by a repeating external signal.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
Meta Platforms, whose new Muse AI agent has driven the stock prices of the tech sector this week, got a price-target boost after showcasing products at its Connect conference on Wednesday night.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
It is driven by increased, but conservative, top-line growth targets, the analyst says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Secondly, Texas has a huge and growing appetite for electricity, driven by a burgeoning population.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
They think of the cortex as a chamber holding a formless cloud or jelly driven by a mysterious "vital force."
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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.
