achieve
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to bring to a successful conclusion; accomplish; attain
-
to gain as by hard work or effort
to achieve success
Synonym Usage
See do 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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achievernoun
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superachievernoun
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outachieveverb (used with object)
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achievableadjective
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preachievedadjective
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unachievableadjective
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unachievedadjective
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well-achievedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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achievesimple
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achievessimple
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have achievedperfect
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has achievedperfect
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am achievingprogressive
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are achievingprogressive
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is achievingprogressive
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have been achievingperfect progressive
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has been achievingperfect progressive
Past
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achievedsimple
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had achievedperfect
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was achievingprogressive
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were achievingprogressive
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had been achievingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of achieve
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English acheven, from Old French achever “to finish,” from phrase a chef “to (the) head,” i.e., “to conclusion”; see chief
Explanation
If you achieve something, you've reached a goal. Achievements aren't accidents. If you stumble upon a treasure chest, you haven't achieved something; however, achieving a promotion to become CEO is another story. If someone asks you to give an example of the word achieve, you can always reach for Shakespeare's much quoted remark from his play Twelfth Night. In Act II, Scene V, the character Malvolio says, ". . . some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." Pundits like to throw that quote around when talking about politicians. Of course, they usually disagree about if, when, and how the politician achieved greatness.
Vocabulary lists containing achieve
The AP English Exam: The Language of the Test
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Workshop 1, Part 1
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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 simulations suggest that a detector of this size could achieve spatial resolution of a few millimeters, placing it on par with state-of-the-art plastic scintillator detectors.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
"Don't let the unity and love we've seen in our country end with this campaign. When we're together we can achieve big things," the Real Madrid player said.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Despite the marked slowdown, Beijing remains on track to achieve its lowered 4.5%-5.0% growth target for the year, with China’s GDP growing 4.7% during the first half of the year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
"Statutory testing in primary must be ended and assessment approaches in secondary must broaden beyond end-of-course exams to allow all students to achieve and thrive," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
"And just how would you achieve that miracle?"
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
A griddle achieves this effortlessly, because the juices have nowhere else to go.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
In a study published in Neuron, Kerstjens, Zador, and collaborators from Harvard University and ETH Zürich propose a new theory describing how the developing brain achieves this remarkable level of organization.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026
It typically achieves these goals through interest-rate decisions -- cutting borrowing costs to spur economic activity or raising them to cool prices.
From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026
Morningstar’s base-case scenario, which it assigns a 50% probability, assumes that SpaceX achieves a reusable Starship rocket and somewhat economical orbital data centers.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026
Found only in Ireland, it achieves a height of up to six inches and is green in colour.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
"Significant phased progress has been achieved in efforts to revitalise... the project," state news agency Xinhua reported.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Jeppson’s Malört achieved a 26% compound annual growth rate over the five years through 2025, outpacing the overall U.S. distillery industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
One wonders what France might have achieved in 1962 or 1966 had they been able to call on such a fearsome striker.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Writing in the journal Nature, the team showed that wave amplification can be achieved using a device that simulates extreme rotation without physically spinning.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
“And can you say that anyone’s achieved it?”
From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King
After achieving some success in the 1970s as part of the new wave band The Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart went on to achieve international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
But by the time he left office, he was finally achieving something unlikely: becoming a power center of his own.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
In the Bay Area, he rallied a group of like-minded young men to co-found Stop AI, a group devoted to “protecting human life by achieving a permanent global ban on artificial superintelligence.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
They were painstakingly close to achieving one of the tournament's great upsets against Argentina, leading 2-0 with just minutes left to play before the defending champions staged an astonishing 3-2 comeback win.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Although Chicago was rapidly achieving recognition as an industrial and mercantile dynamo, its leading men felt keenly the slander from New York that their city had few cultural assets.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
