Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
success - 4 dictionary results

suc⋅cess

  [suhk-ses]
Use success in a Sentence
–noun
1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.
2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
3. a successful performance or achievement: The play was an instant success.
4. a person or thing that is successful: She was a great success on the talk show.
5. Obsolete. outcome.
Origin:
1530–40; < L successus, equiv. to succēd-, s. of succēdere to succeed + -tus suffix of v. action, with dt > ss

Related forms:
suc⋅cess⋅less, adjective
suc⋅cess⋅less⋅ly, adverb
suc⋅cess⋅less⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. achievement, fame, triumph.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To success
suc·cess   (sək-sěs')   
n.  
  1. The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted: attributed their success in business to hard work.
    1. The gaining of fame or prosperity: an artist spoiled by success.
    2. The extent of such gain.
  3. One that is successful: The plan was a success.
  4. Obsolete A result or an outcome.

[Latin successus, from past participle of succēdere, to succeed; see succeed.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Success

Suc*cess"\, n. [L. successus: cf. F. succ[`e]s. See Succeed.]

1. Act of succeeding; succession. [Obs.]

Then all the sons of these five brethren reigned By due success. --Spenser.

2. That which comes after; hence, consequence, issue, or result, of an endeavor or undertaking, whether good or bad; the outcome of effort.

Men . . . that are like to do that, that is committed to them, and to report back again faithfully the success. --Bacon.

Perplexed and troubled at his bad success The tempter stood. --Milton.

3. The favorable or prosperous termination of anything attempted; the attainment of a proposed object; prosperous issue.

Dream of success and happy victory! --Shak.

Or teach with more success her son The vices of the time to shun. --Waller.

Military successes, above all others, elevate the minds of a people. --Atterbury.

4. That which meets with, or one who accomplishes, favorable results, as a play or a player. [Colloq.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : success
Spanish: éxito,
German: der Erfolg,
Japanese: 成功
More Translations »

success 
1537, "result, outcome," from L. successus "an advance, succession, happy outcome," from succedere "come after" (see succeed). Meaning "accomplishment of desired end" (good success) first recorded 1586. Successor "one who comes after" is recorded from 1297.
"The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That -- with the squalid interpretation put on the word success -- is our national disease." [William James to H.G. Wells, Sept. 11, 1906]
Success story is attested from 1925. Successful first attested 1588 in Shakespeare. Among the Fr. phrases used in Eng. late 19c. were succès d'estime "cordial reception given to a literary work out of respect rather than admiration" and succès de scandale "success (especially of a work of art) dependent upon its scandalous character."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see success on Thesaurus | Reference