victory
noun
a success or triumph over an enemy in battle or war.
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victory
American
[vik-tuh-ree, vik-tree]
/ ˈvɪk tə ri, ˈvɪk tri /
noun
-
victories
plural
-
a success or triumph over an enemy in battle or war.
- Antonyms:
- defeat
-
an engagement ending in such triumph.
American victories in the Pacific were won at great cost.
- Antonyms:
- defeat
-
the ultimate and decisive superiority in any battle or contest.
The new vaccine effected a victory over poliomyelitis.
- Antonyms:
- defeat
-
a success or superior position achieved against any opponent, opposition, difficulty, etc..
a moral victory.
-
(initial capital letter) the ancient Roman goddess Victoria, often represented in statues or on coins as the personification of victory.
victory
1
British
/ ˈvɪktərɪ /
noun
-
final and complete superiority in a war
-
a successful military engagement
-
a success attained in a contest or struggle or over an opponent, obstacle, or problem
-
the act of triumphing or state of having triumphed
Victory
2
British
/ ˈvɪktərɪ /
noun
-
another name (in English) for Victoria 3
-
another name (in English) for Nike
victory
Idioms
Synonym Usage
Victory, conquest, triumph refer to a successful outcome of a struggle. Victory suggests the decisive defeat of an opponent in a contest of any kind: victory in battle; a football victory. Conquest implies the taking over of control by the victor, and the obedience of the conquered: a war of conquest; the conquest of Peru. Triumph implies a particularly outstanding victory: the triumph of a righteous cause; the triumph of justice.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of victory
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English victorie, from Latin victōria, equivalent to victōr-, stem of victor victor + -ia -y 3
Explanation
A victory is a win. In sports or war, one side usually achieves victory. If you've ever won anything, you've achieved a victory: being successful in some kind of contest, sport, or battle. The winners of elections, football games, chess matches, debates, and scholarships all have won impressive victories. In war, there's victory too. People who overcome a disease such as cancer also consider that a victory. The opposite of victory is defeat.
Vocabulary lists containing victory
Vocabulary of the Summer Olympics
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for February 6–12, 2021
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President Obama's second inaugural address
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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:
"Today’s decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online."
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Sinner, meanwhile, will glide back slowly to Cincy, taking time off following an impressive victory at Wimbledon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
The Rams are regarded as a favorite to play in all 21 — and to cap the season with a victory in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
The victory, she says, changed attitudes towards women's sport in the city.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The day after Klavdiya and Kolya’s shared victory, on June 6, 1944, the Allied nations finally launched their organized attack against the German occupation of western Europe.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Victory over Slovakia - and the prospect of getting to the second round - took that to another level.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The $3-billion listing of Victory Giant, a supplier for AI chip giant Nvidia, puts it in fourth place globally for 2026.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Victory over Argentina on Saturday keeps Steve Borthwick's team in the hunt for a place in the final on 29 November at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Victory established the nation as a global military and colonial power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
She looked like Winged Victory, tumbled on her back, being carted off to a conqueror’s museum.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
The states are teaming up to try to derail Paramount’s merger, and have snared preliminary victories — prompting a concession from Paramount to put the merger on hold until after the trial.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
No voting method can always ensure that local victories produce local seats, national seat totals accurately reflect overall vote shares, and the size of parliament remains fixed.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
He’s eighth on baseball’s all-time managerial wins list with 2,183 as the only Black manager in baseball history with 2,000 victories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Even in the context of Kimi Antonelli's stellar start to the season for Mercedes, this was one of the most impressive and convincing victories of the season.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
In the beginning, Aech was slightly better than I was, and he had a habit of gloating over his victories.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
