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Synonyms

successful

American  
[suhk-ses-fuhl] / səkˈsɛs fəl /

adjective

  1. achieving or having achieved success.

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

  3. resulting in or attended with success.

successful British  
/ səkˈsɛsfʊl /

adjective

  1. having succeeded in one's endeavours

  2. marked by a favourable outcome

  3. having obtained fame, wealth, etc

"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

Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

  • 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
  • successfully adverb
  • successfulness noun

Etymology

Origin of successful

First recorded in 1580–90; success + -ful

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.

PayPal’s founders and early employees, dubbed the “PayPal Mafia” by Fortune magazine in a 2007 story, would go on to invest or build successful Silicon Valley companies.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

SpaceX's Starship has continued to show progress through recent successful tests.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

I felt a sound base like that within the team gave even limited players a chance of being successful by getting results over the course of a long and demanding season.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

NASA’s Artemis II crew External link is charging toward the moon after a successful launch.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

Another successful pamphlet about the Fox sisters’ spirits came from Rochester printer D. M. Dewey.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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.