Showing results for "driven"

• past participle of drive.

driven

American  

[driv-uhn] / ˈdrɪv ən /

verb

1. past participle of drive.

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adjective

1. being under compulsion, as to succeed or excel.

   a driven young man who was fiercely competitive.

2. 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.

driven British  

/ ˈdrɪvən /

verb

1. the past participle of drive

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driven Idioms  

1. see pure as the driven snow.

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Other Word Forms

• drivenness
  noun
• undriven
  adjective
• well-driven
  adjective

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

The Roaring ’20s: Driven by easy credit and an industrial build-out of new technologies like the radio and the telephone, this historic bubble peaked on Sept. 3, 1929.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026

Driven to deliver the title for Ukraine, Kostyuk will head into her semi-final on a 17-match winning streak on the clay this season.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026

The hedge fund, which has a roughly 3.7% stake in Driven, had last month called on the company to launch a strategic review process and to explore a sale or break up, the Journal reported.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

Driven by tech stocks, the S&P 500 will climb to 7,750 in 2026, he says.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 27, 2026

Driven off course, the captain sought shelter next to a rocky, barren, almost totally uninhabited small island that in ancient times had been called both Aeigilia and Cerigotto, but which now was called Antikythera.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler