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:
Residents have to leave, food must be protected or removed, and the treatment does not leave behind lasting protection against termites that arrive later.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Anthropic did not say when evaluators would arrive at the company.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at GlobalData, said the toys and other gear offered by restaurants particularly appeal to that market given that they often arrive in the form of limited drops.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
At Chappell Roan shows, fans often arrive in sparkling Western wear to honor her hit “Pink Pony Club.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
"As soon as I arrive at the Court, I will personally tell His Majesty of Don Quixote's courage," he said.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
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
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
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
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
However deep his ignorance, it could not possibly be more finished than mine some dozen years ago; and yet I may say, Je suis arrivé!
From About Orchids A Chat by Frederick Boyle
Meanwhile the leading men of the guilds had become hommes arrivés.
From German Culture Past and Present by Ernest Belfort Bax
The product arrives pre-endorsed by your own past dinners.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
Shaun the Sheep creators say AI will not replace the craft of storytelling as the franchise's latest film arrives in UK cinemas.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
They’re planning to pull out all the stops when she arrives at the station.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
He arrives as Target under CEO Michael Fiddelke is pursuing a turnaround by lowering some prices, refreshing its product lineup and updating store layouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
James arrives with two buckets of water hanging from either end of a yoke balanced across his shoulders.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
And now we have arrived at Alison Roman selling “A Very Good Sauce,” including a jar inspired by the caramelized-shallot-and-anchovy pasta that once briefly seemed to occupy half the internet.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
Arman Tsarukyan and Mauricio Ruffy arrived at Crypto.com Arena with a five-round bout scheduled and key positions in the lightweight division on the line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
That is when they realised she had arrived in the country but would not be coming home.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
But the demand and price swings have arrived amid a booming market for collectibles, with people increasingly treating items like trading cards and toys as investments.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
The human search party arrived, following the beacon of Clare’s fire smoke.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Climate conditions also help determine whether transported termites can establish themselves after arriving somewhere new.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
They said first-year students are at times arriving in classrooms lacking basic math and reasoning skills and they have often resorted to teaching remedial middle-school math concepts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
But when people recall the weeks afterward as a time when the country came together, I remember another America arriving almost immediately.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Earlier this year, the teams boarded several dark fleet vessels seized by the U.S. to ensure that the ships’ systems weren’t compromised before arriving in the U.S. or at other ports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Once, arriving back in Boston exhausted, he confided to Ophelia that he heard two sets of voices.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
