arrive
verb (used without object)
to come to a certain point in the course of travel; reach one's destination.
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arrive
1 American
[uh-rahyv]
/ əˈraɪv /
verb (used without object)
-
arrives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
arrived,
past participle, past
-
arriving
present participle
-
to come to a certain point in the course of travel; reach one's destination.
He finally arrived in Rome.
-
to come to be near or present in time.
The moment to act has arrived.
-
to attain a position of success, power, achievement, fame, or the like.
After years of hard work, she has finally arrived in her field.
-
Archaic. to happen.
It arrived that the master had already departed.
verb (used with object)
-
arrives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
arrived,
past participle, past
-
arriving
present participle
verb phrase
arrivé
2
American
[ar-ee-vey, a -r ee-vey]
/ ˌær iˈveɪ, a riˈveɪ /
noun
-
arrivés
plural
arrive
British
/ əˈraɪv /
verb
-
to come to a certain place during or after a journey; reach a destination
-
(foll by at) to agree upon; reach
to arrive at a decision
-
to occur eventually
the moment arrived when pretence was useless
-
informal (of a baby) to be born
-
informal to attain success or gain recognition
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
arrivesimple
-
arrivessimple
-
have arrivedperfect
-
has arrivedperfect
-
am arrivingprogressive
-
are arrivingprogressive
-
is arrivingprogressive
-
have been arrivingperfect progressive
-
has been arrivingperfect progressive
Past
-
arrivedsimple
-
had arrivedperfect
-
was arrivingprogressive
-
were arrivingprogressive
-
had been arrivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of arrive1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English a(r)riven, from Old French a(r)river, from Vulgar Latin arrīpāre (unrecorded) “to come to land,” verb derivative of Latin ad rīpam “to the riverbank”; cf. river 1
Origin of arrivé2
First recorded in 1920–25; from French: literally, “arrived,” noun use of past participle of arriver “to arrive”; see arrive
Explanation
To arrive is to come to a destination. When you arrive in Paris, the first thing you should do is go and buy a croissant. The word arrive generally means to come to a physical destination, like a place. Make sure you arrive home on time for dinner! But it can also be less literal. You can arrive at a conclusion or a decision after much thought. You can also use arrive to mean "achieve great success," though for whatever reason, this specific usage tends to be in the past tense. If you serve champagne and caviar at a party, your snobby aunt might comment, "My dear, you’ve arrived!” In this case, arrive means to come to a place of great wealth or success.
Vocabulary lists containing arrive
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Lotus Seed"
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, are expected to arrive in New Delhi as early as Friday, with both due to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The 49ers chose to arrive in Melbourne eight days before the game to acclimate to the 17-hour time difference.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Punishingly hot temperatures coupled with drastically high humidity will peak Wednesday, making temperatures feel even more intense than previously blistering days, with real relief not expected to arrive until Friday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
This wet weather will arrive for England and Wales by the evening.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Gran and Uncle John arrive soon after we get home.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
As I gently closed the door of the ward and stole out into the corridor on tip-toe, I heard again the martial chorus swelling into a tumult of joy: Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
From Leaves from a Field Note-Book by John Hartman Morgan
He will arrivé back here to-night tired as a dog, but once more at daybreak it will be Dominique who sets forth to carry the wounded man up to Fort Amitié.
From Fort Amity by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
The triumphant words shouted out by the men seemed more sorrowful than those of the De profundis: Allons, enfants de la patrie, Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 33, December, 1873 by Various
The first two verses of this new version will suffice to show its character: Allons, enfant de la patrie, La jour de gloire est arrivé.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. October, 1878. by Various
Once in a year, however, I as the French say, doesn't make a custom, and the Parisian crowd, to quote its own expression, "croit que c'est arrivé."
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 26, September, 1880 by Various
Meanwhile the leading men of the guilds had become hommes arrivés.
From German Culture Past and Present by Ernest Belfort Bax
Chowdhury has said the constituency does not need "another MP who arrives during an election campaign" and then "disappears once the votes are counted".
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Twelve months after RSI arrives, open-source models will make this technology available, unfiltered, to everyone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Later this month Xi arrives in Washington for a return visit, and he may reach for the phrase again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
As she says it, though, Jeon and co-star Cho Yeo-jeong are laughing — making the assertion rather harder to believe when it arrives in English from Korean via an interpreter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
A few days after Captain Newport arrives we hear shouts of “Wingapo!” and look to see Indians paddling to shore in three canoes.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Born in a refugee camp in Sudan, she arrived in the US aged two and is among hundreds of people, including with legal protection, deported to African countries over the last 18 months.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
The 27-year arrived at the US Open trailing Aryna Sabalenka by just 434 points and was guaranteed to secure the number one ranking for the first time in her career by reaching the semi-finals.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Frontman Bono described the LP, which would be the group’s first full-length collection of new songs in nine years, as “defiantly joyful,” and a second EP, “Easter Lily,” arrived in April.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
A two-story apartment complex was “engulfed” in flames by the time firefighters arrived, according to authorities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Nils, one of our workers, had come to report old Katrien safely arrived at a farm north of Alkmaar.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Shortly after arriving, Davis met someone at a party whose wife worked at the motion picture academy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The emissions had traveled for approximately four to five billion years before arriving at Earth.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026
“I thought Neil Patrick Harris arriving on the set in an SS uniform might clear it up.”
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Despite arriving later than expected, the sheer size of the package marks a significant investment in military preparedness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Well, unless they were flying a private jet or arriving by boat.”
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
