success

American  

[suhk-ses] / səkˈsɛs /

noun

• successes
  plural

1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.

2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.

   Synonyms:

   triumph, accomplishment, achievement

3. a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors.

   The play was an instant success.

4. 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.

5. Obsolete. outcome.

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success British  

/ səkˈsɛs /

noun

1. the favourable outcome of something attempted

2. the attainment of wealth, fame, etc

3. an action, performance, etc, that is characterized by success

4. a person or thing that is successful

5. obsolete any outcome

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsuccess
  noun
• presuccess
  noun
• successlessness
  noun
• semisuccess
  adjective
• successless
  adjective
• successlessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• successes
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

success successes

Less than two years later, the brand has sold almost 87,000 cars in the U.K., including the smaller Jaecoo 5 launched last fall—a success that took dealers and the company by surprise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

It is his second World Grand Prix title, adding to his 2023 success that started his march to becoming world number one.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Curl said the formula for success was simple.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

In China, AI companies have already had success using cuddly companions to attract users to their products.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026

Messrs. Pinkerton & Co. deserve great credit...and have won additional laurels by the success which has crowned their efforts.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

He said the annual meeting provided an opportunity to "learn from each other" and "share our successes and failures and everything".

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Those successes have depended on digitally unrolling CT scans and then using machine learning to detect extremely subtle changes in texture or shape associated with ancient ink.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

It’s tempting to extrapolate our successes or sacrifices and say, “I did it. Why can’t you?”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026

The author characteristically turns the failures into “learning moments,” and the phenomenal successes are recounted with hand-to-the-heart humility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

They might have been a failure, but their failure was a good deal better than the usual run of the System’s successes.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

Related Words

• accomplishment
• achievement
• advance
• benefit
• boom
• fame
• gain
• happiness
• profit
• progress
• prosperity
• realization
• triumph
• victory
• win