success

noun

suc·​cess sək-ˈses 

1

a

: degree or measure of succeeding

b

: favorable or desired outcome

also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence

2

: one that succeeds

3

obsolete : outcome, result

Synonyms

• blockbuster
• hit
• megahit
• smash
• supernova
• winner

Examples of success in a Sentence

An enormous popular and critical success, The Liars' Club was credited with (or blamed for) launching a new wave of memoir-writing. (Karr deflects this accusation: "I think memoir started with St. Augustine," she told Salon in 1997.) —Mollie Wilson O'Reilly, Commonweal, 23 Oct. 2009

Fred tries to keep up his end of the conversation, but without much success; he has never grown bulbs, cooked veal, seen a film by Fassbinder, etc. He feels provincial and out of it … —Alison Lurie, Foreign Affairs, 2006

Since I was interested in finding out about the successes as well as the failures disabled women experience in the world, I interviewed women who had some work experience, although it was often part-time work and sometimes interrupted. —Mary Grimley Mason, Working Against Odds, 2004

The necessaries of life for man in this climate may, accurately enough, be distributed under the several heads of Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel; for not till we have secured these are we prepared to entertain the true problems of life with freedom and a prospect of success. —Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

Success came easily to him.

She is country music's most recent success.

The growth of the tourism industry is one of the city's great successes.

Recent Examples on the Web

They are matched for the third-most instances of this kind of success. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

The success of the agreement will depend on resolving critical details like border control and the structure of military integration, which will be handled by committees. —Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 12 Mar. 2025

John Roese, Dell's global chief technology officer and chief AI officer, told Axios during a Washington visit Tuesday that the federal government's AI adoption is poised to speed up in part because of success cases in business. —Mike Allen, Axios, 12 Mar. 2025

Another election could potentially provide a new opportunity for Portugal’s far-right Chega (Enough) party to ride the wave of far-right success across Europe. —Helena Alves and Joseph Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin successus, from succedere — see succeed

First Known Use

1537, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Phrases Containing success

• culture of success
• have any/much success
• meet with little success
• nothing succeeds like success
• on the altar of success
• roaring success
• secret to someone's success
• success story
• without success

Rhymes for success

• abbess
• abscess
• access
• address
• assess
• caress
• confess
• depress
• digress
• distress
• egress
• excess

Kids Definition

success

noun

suc·​cess sək-ˈses 

1

a

: degree or measure of succeeding

b

: satisfactory completion of something

c

: the gaining of wealth, respect, or fame

2

: a person or thing that succeeds