success
[suh k-ses]
- the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.
- the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
- a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors: The play was an instant success.
- 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.
- Obsolete. outcome.
Show More
Origin of success
1530–40; < Latin successus, equivalent to succēd-, stem of succēdere to succeed + -tus suffix of v. action, with dt > ss
Synonyms
See more synonyms for success on Thesaurus.com2. achievement, fame, triumph.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for success
Contemporary Examples
As a means of preventing tooth decay in those cities that do fluoridate, the practice certainly looks like a success.
The grim instability of shelter life is hardly a recipe for success under the best of circumstances.
When you think about all of that, the success of this Comeback run is all the more impressive.
Of course, this is The Comeback, and so "success" is a relative word.
Lee explains the success of its store-within-a-store strategy, particularly as regarding Samsung.
Historical Examples
I ventured to predict that success awaited him in the rubber business.
They tried it out at home and when it proved a success, they carried it abroad.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
That one example, moreover, has been a success as unqualified as undeniable.
'Tis Sixty Years SinceCharles Francis Adams
She was properly presented; but as yet she has had no success at all.'
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
Thus was the work begun by Wilberforce finally crowned with success.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
success
- the favourable outcome of something attempted
- the attainment of wealth, fame, etc
- an action, performance, etc, that is characterized by success
- a person or thing that is successful
- obsolete any outcome
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Latin successus an outcome, from succēdere to succeed
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for success
n.
1530s, "result, outcome," from Latin successus "an advance, succession, happy outcome," from succedere "come after" (see succeed). Meaning "accomplishment of desired end" (good success) first recorded 1580s.
The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That -- with the squalid interpretation put on the word success -- is our national disease. [William James to H.G. Wells, Sept. 11, 1906]
Success story is attested from 1925. Among the French phrases used in English late 19c. were succès d'estime "cordial reception given to a literary work out of respect rather than admiration" and succès de scandale "success (especially of a work of art) dependent upon its scandalous character."
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper