successive
Americanadjective
-
following in order or in uninterrupted sequence; consecutive.
three successive days.
-
following another in a regular sequence.
the second successive day.
-
characterized by or involving succession.
adjective
-
following another without interruption
-
of or involving succession
a successive process
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of successive
1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin successīvus, equivalent to success ( us ), past participle of succēdere to succeed + -īvus -ive
Explanation
Successive is a word for things (or people) that follow each other in time. If three presidents in a row were over sixty, you could say, "Three successive presidents were over sixty." Successive is a word that comes up often when you're looking at the history of something. Back in the 1960s, eight successive Boston Celtics teams won the NBA championship. In school, if you do very well, you could get an A in three successive math classes. Even though successive has the word success in it, it's not necessarily a good thing: you could also miss ten successive free throws.
Vocabulary lists containing successive
Siddhartha
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The Joy Luck Club
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The Thing About Jellyfish
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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.
The state accused Pike of filing “a second and successive habeas petition in disguise that presses a claim she already unsuccessfully presented.”
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026
Analysts said traders were presented with a "Goldilocks" batch of figures that provided a fillip to equities on Wall Street as the dealers revised lower the likelihood of a second successive interest rate hike.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Wakefield's win guarantees there will be a sixth name on the trophy and a new champion for the second successive year, following Rovers' victory in 2025.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
“It can be a lonely world as a starting quarterback — that’s a franchise quarterback — when you have successive losses,” McDaniel said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
Zach’s next scene does not go off without a hitch, and what occurs will repeat itself in each successive performance.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
