achieve
Americanverb (used with object)
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achieves,
present (3rd person singular)
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achieved,
past participle, past
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achieving
present participle
verb (used without object)
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achieves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
achieved,
past participle, past
-
achieving
present participle
verb
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to bring to a successful conclusion; accomplish; attain
-
to gain as by hard work or effort
to achieve success
Synonym Usage
See do 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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achievernoun
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superachievernoun
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outachieveverb (used with object)
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achievableadjective
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preachievedadjective
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unachievableadjective
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unachievedadjective
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well-achievedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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achievesimple
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achievessimple
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have achievedperfect
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has achievedperfect
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am achievingprogressive
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are achievingprogressive
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is achievingprogressive
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have been achievingperfect progressive
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has been achievingperfect progressive
Past
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achievedsimple
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had achievedperfect
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was achievingprogressive
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were achievingprogressive
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had been achievingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of achieve
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English acheven, from Old French achever “to finish,” from phrase a chef “to (the) head,” i.e., “to conclusion”; see chief
Explanation
If you achieve something, you've reached a goal. Achievements aren't accidents. If you stumble upon a treasure chest, you haven't achieved something; however, achieving a promotion to become CEO is another story. If someone asks you to give an example of the word achieve, you can always reach for Shakespeare's much quoted remark from his play Twelfth Night. In Act II, Scene V, the character Malvolio says, ". . . some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." Pundits like to throw that quote around when talking about politicians. Of course, they usually disagree about if, when, and how the politician achieved greatness.
Vocabulary lists containing achieve
The AP English Exam: The Language of the Test
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Workshop 1, Part 1
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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:
Modern therapies can help many patients achieve remission, but diagnosing and managing IBD remains challenging.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Some analysts doubt Warsh is willing to wait two or three years to achieve that goal, based on his recent tough talk and his pre-Trump history of favoring an aggressive approach to fighting inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
"But if you increase disorder too much, you also lose stability. Our framework can help pinpoint the level of disorder that helps the system achieve optimal stability."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
He entered the mainstream with his 1969 single, Space Oddity, and went on to achieve 11 number one albums.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Nothingness was what the world came from, and to achieve nothingness again became the ultimate goal of mankind.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
To compound matters, the masculine ego trap also tells a man that he’s not worthy of what he wants until he achieves some nebulous milestone that, again, sets him apart from other men.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
The rub here is that there’s a difference between a film that becomes a cult classic because it’s genuinely underrated, and one that achieves that status through the unholy, rose-colored lens of social media obsession.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
That’s a six pound average for a fish that rarely achieves that sort of size.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Neil: Hopefully he helps the team progress and achieves Euro 2028 qualification.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
He achieves his own authority, and that is unshakable.
From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin
We would not have achieved this without exome sequencing, as the gene we identified wasn't an obvious candidate and little is known about Mal protein in red cells.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
According to most reviews, Cregger has achieved what he set out to do.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
"In India, with your assistance, chip design, manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, material ecosystem, testing capability -- we worked at all of it, at the same time, and have achieved success in it."
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
John: I would like to thank David for what he achieved for the club as a player and then coach with two decent seasons culminating in European football.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
For one thing, I’d picked up on the simple, encouraging correlation between how long I practiced and how much I achieved.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
When Tanisha Saunders graduated from college eight years ago, she felt optimistic that she was on her way to achieving an American dream that included homeownership.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
But achieving peace and security isn’t only about Israel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
He said: "If America wanted this individual in the United States to face American justice, there were lawful ways of achieving that. They appear to have thrown all of that out of the window."
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Until now, achieving such intense confinement at this scale had been considered extremely difficult.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
As Chief Luthuli said, “When the women begin to take an active part in the struggle, no power on earth can stop us from achieving freedom in our lifetime.”
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
