successful

[suhk-ses-fuhl]

adjective

1. achieving or having achieved success.

2. having attained wealth, position, honors, or the like.

3. resulting in or attended with success.

successful

/ səkˈsɛsfʊl /

adjective

1. having succeeded in one's endeavours

2. marked by a favourable outcome

3. having obtained fame, wealth, etc

Other Word Forms

• successfulness noun
• successfully adverb
• half-successful adjective
• half-successfully adverb
• half-successfulness noun
• nonsuccessful adjective
• nonsuccessfully adverb
• presuccessful adjective
• presuccessfully adverb
• quasi-successful adjective
• quasi-successfully adverb
• semisuccessful adjective
• semisuccessfully adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of successful¹

First recorded in 1580–90; success + -ful

Example Sentences

Why do you think pageant winners are successful in politics?

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There are more failed attempts than successful ones.

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He’s riding high off the successful revivals of many of his classic works.

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Much of the reason the Ripa-Consuelos team has been successful on TV is that they are enthusiastic, quarrelsome in an amusing way, but also intense.

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We ask the most successful people we know to tell us what role luck plays in one’s career.

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Related Words

• fortunate 
• fruitful 
• happy 
• lucky 
• lucrative 
• outstanding 
• prosperous 
• rewarding 
• strong 
• wealthy 

When To Use

Spelling tips for successful

The word successful is hard to spell because it can be hard to know which letters are doubled. Both the c and the middle s are doubled, but the f and l are not. How to spell successful: To be a success, you need to see (two Cs) Some Smarts (two Ss). This reminds you that success is spelled with a double C in the middle and a double S at the end. To spell successful, you add the base word (success) to the suffix -ful.