achieve
Americanverb (used with object)
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achieves,
present (3rd person singular)
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achieved,
past participle, past
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achieving
present participle
verb (used without object)
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achieves,
present (3rd person singular)
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achieved,
past participle, past
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achieving
present participle
verb
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to bring to a successful conclusion; accomplish; attain
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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 Chinese technology company’s capital-efficient strategy aims to achieve higher growth with relatively lower capital expenditure, reducing need to issue new shares, she says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
"She made me feel like I belonged and because of that I was able to achieve my potential."
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
“The market is telling us this size of purchases didn’t achieve it,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Dynamic reconstruction enables low-loading catalysts to achieve high performance, offering new opportunities for the rational design of efficient catalysts while reducing reliance on high metal loadings."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
I take off, looking for a water dispenser with one of those hot taps for making tea, so I can quickly pour the perfect mix of hot and cold to achieve room temperature.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
Successfully corralled, Franz earns the degree of doctor of law, and achieves success in the insurance industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Neil: Hopefully he helps the team progress and achieves Euro 2028 qualification.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
As the company achieves notable growth — sales more than doubled in the latest quarter — it’s also impressing Wall Street with its profit performance.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
FKT is short for the “fastest known time” that a person or small group achieves on a particular course, usually somewhere it would be difficult or impossible to host an actual race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
After nine years—in April 1957—Joey finally achieves twelve consecutive negative swabs for Hansen’s disease, and she is allowed to leave Carville.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Chinese companies haven’t denied that they engage in distillation, but earlier this year, a Moonshot executive told local media that the company’s Kim K3 achieved “breakthrough performance” due to fundamental innovations, not distillation or copying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Chief executive Oscar Garcia Maceiras hailed in the statement "excellent results" that were achieved "in a highly complex global environment".
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
By combining specific proteins found in rattlesnake blood, the researchers achieved unusually strong protection against venom from several dangerous snake species.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
"I've got immense respect for KP and what he's achieved in the game," said England's white-ball head coach Brendon McCullum.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
They angled and tipped it until a fine delicate balance had been achieved.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
In a written statement, Historic England said its proposed changes would not prevent the City from achieving its office floorspace requirement.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
"A model can become very good at achieving a goal, and it can still act in ways that go against what the person intended," Pachocki said on the same call.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Shvartsman and his associates “arranged meetings” with “contacts and stars” associated with the movie in the hopes of achieving his goal of a pardon, the lawsuit said, though it doesn’t state specifically whom he targeted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Last week, Nvidia reported blockbuster second-quarter earnings results, which led to the company achieving its largest one-day market-capitalization gain on record.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
Or maybe I didn’t want to be dismissed as incapable of achieving.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
