success
Americannoun
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the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.
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the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
- Synonyms:
- triumph, accomplishment, achievement
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a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors.
The play was an instant success.
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a person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth, etc..
She was a great success on the talk show.
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Obsolete. outcome.
noun
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the favourable outcome of something attempted
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the attainment of wealth, fame, etc
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an action, performance, etc, that is characterized by success
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a person or thing that is successful
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obsolete any outcome
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonsuccessnoun
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presuccessnoun
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successlessnessnoun
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semisuccessadjective
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successlessadjective
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successlesslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of success
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin successus, equivalent to succēd-, stem of succēdere succeed + -tus suffix of verb action, with -dt- regularly becoming -ss-
Explanation
For some students, success in school means getting As and Bs. For others, it means getting straight As, starring in the school play, and winning the class election. Success means achieving a goal, and everyone's goals are different. We tend to think of success as a triumph or victory, but if you look at its linguistic roots in Latin, success literally just means "result." At some point several centuries ago people probably began using success as shorthand for "good success," and eventually they dropped the good altogether. That would explain why in formal settings you still occasionally hear the phrase "good success," even though we now think of all successes as good.
Vocabulary lists containing success
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 5
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"Kids Are Inventors, Too"
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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:
The current incarnation, presented by Walsh, has been on air since 2020, when the success of a one-off Christmas special prompted the BBC to commission several more series.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Many people have dwarfed my success a hundred- or thousandfold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
But in this particular case, success was out of Riley’s control.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Military expert Fadi Daoud told AFP that the Lebanese army's success in Zawtar al-Gharbiya was based on a "particular equation: a small area, relative calm, strong political symbolism and direct US pressure".
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Celia understands what it takes to succeed because success hasn’t always come easily to her, in school at least.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery gave Rogers a major role in the side's recent successes, something that contributed to his hefty transfer fee.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Imax in recent years has benefited from other massive film successes, like last year’s “Sinners,” which also used some Imax cameras during shooting.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
We can learn as much from the Australian model’s deficiencies as its successes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Inspired by successes in Asia, SEZs have seen rapid growth in Africa in recent years, with more than 230 in 2025, according to a study by the French Development Agency.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Long glowing reports of the successes of the German army on its various fronts.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
