Standard Lemma guide

successful

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: sək-sĕsʹfəl
  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /səkˈsɛs.fəl/
  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: [səkˈsɛs.fɫ̩]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /səkˈses.fəl/
  • Australian, New-Zealand: [səkˈses.fɫ̩]
  • CMU ARPABET: S AH0 K S EH1 S F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Resulting in success; assuring or promoting success; accomplishing what was proposed; having the desired effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • a successful use of medicine; a successful experiment; a successful enterprise

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: efficacious, effective, fruitful, rewarding, accomplished, profitable, bustling, flourishing, fortunate, lucky, privileged, prosperous, roaring, successful, thriving, wealful

Antonyms: unsuccessful, failed

2

adjective

Meaning 2

having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a successful architect
  • a successful business venture

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: unsuccessful

History

Etymology

From success + -ful.

Across languages

Translations

93 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: نَاجِح (nājiḥ) — resulting in success
  • Arabic: فَائِز (fāʔiz) — resulting in success
  • Arabic: مُوَفَّق (muwaffaq) — resulting in success
  • Azerbaijani: uğurlu — resulting in success
  • Azerbaijani: müvəffəqiyyətli — resulting in success
  • Basque: arrakastatsu — resulting in success
  • Belarusian: паспяхо́вы (paspjaxóvy) — resulting in success
  • Bengali: সফল (śophol) — resulting in success
  • Bengali: কামিয়াব (kamiẏab) — resulting in success
  • Bulgarian: успе́шен (uspéšen) — resulting in success
  • Catalan: reeixit — resulting in success
  • Chinese Cantonese: 成功嘅 (sing4 gong1 ge3) — resulting in success
  • Chinese Mandarin: 有成效的 (yǒu chéngxiào de) — resulting in success
  • Chinese Mandarin: 完滿 /完满 (wánmǎn) — resulting in success
  • Chinese Mandarin: 成功的 (chénggōng de) — resulting in success
  • Crimean Tatar: muvaffaq — resulting in success
  • Czech: úspěšný — resulting in success
  • Danish: succesfuld — resulting in success
  • Danish: succesrig — resulting in success
  • Dutch: succesvol — resulting in success
  • Dutch: geslaagd — resulting in success
  • Dutch: gelukt — resulting in success
  • Esperanto: sukcesa — resulting in success
  • Estonian: edukas — resulting in success
  • Estonian: õnnestunud — resulting in success
  • Finnish: onnistunut — resulting in success
  • Finnish: menestynyt — resulting in success
  • Finnish: menestyvä — resulting in success
  • French: ayant du succès — resulting in success
  • French: marqué de succès — resulting in success
  • French: couronné de succès — resulting in success
  • Georgian: წარმატებული (c̣armaṭebuli) — resulting in success
  • German: erfolgreich — resulting in success
  • Greek: επιτυχημένος (epitychiménos) — resulting in success
  • Greek: επιτυχών (epitychón) — resulting in success
  • Ancient Greek: οὔριος (oúrios) — resulting in success
  • Hebrew: מוצלח (mutzlákh) — resulting in success
  • Hindi: सफल (saphal) — resulting in success
  • Hungarian: sikeres — resulting in success
  • Hungarian: eredményes — resulting in success
  • Indonesian: berhasil — resulting in success
  • Indonesian: sukses — resulting in success
  • Irish: áitheasach — resulting in success
  • Italian: di successo — resulting in success
  • Italian: coronato dal successo — resulting in success
  • Italian: riuscito — resulting in success
  • Japanese: 成功した (seikō shita) — resulting in success
  • Korean: 성공적 (seonggongjeok) — resulting in success
  • Korean: 성공(成功)한 (seonggonghan) — resulting in success
  • Latin: prosper — resulting in success
  • Latin: prosperus — resulting in success
  • Lithuanian: sėkmingas — resulting in success
  • : ᦷᦎᧅᦑᦲᧈ (ṫoktii1) — resulting in success
  • : ᦷᦎᧅᦑᦲᧈᦔᦲᧃᦡᦲ (ṫoktii1ṗiinḋii) — resulting in success
  • Macedonian: у́спешен (úspešen) — resulting in success
  • Malay: berjaya — resulting in success
  • Māori: momoho — resulting in success
  • Māori: angitu — resulting in success
  • Norwegian Bokmål: vellykket — resulting in success
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: vellukka — resulting in success
  • Old English: spēdiġ — resulting in success
  • Persian: موفق (movaffaq) — resulting in success
  • Persian: کامگار (kâmgâr) — resulting in success
  • Polish: udany — resulting in success
  • Portuguese: bem-sucedido — resulting in success
  • Portuguese: conseguido — resulting in success
  • Portuguese: próspero — resulting in success
  • Romanian: reușit — resulting in success
  • Romanian: izbutit — resulting in success
  • Romanian: plin de succes — resulting in success
  • Russian: успе́шный (uspéšnyj) — resulting in success
  • Russian: благополу́чный (blagopolúčnyj) — resulting in success
  • Russian: уда́чный (udáčnyj) — resulting in success
  • Sanskrit: सफल (saphala) — resulting in success
  • Serbo-Croatian: успешан — resulting in success
  • Serbo-Croatian: успјешан — resulting in success
  • Serbo-Croatian: uspešan — resulting in success
  • Serbo-Croatian: uspješan — resulting in success
  • Slovak: úspešný — resulting in success
  • Slovene: uspešen — resulting in success
  • Spanish: exitoso — resulting in success
  • Spanish: logrado — resulting in success
  • Spanish: afortunado — resulting in success
  • Spanish: de éxito — resulting in success
  • Swedish: lyckad — resulting in success
  • Swedish: framgångsrik — resulting in success
  • Turkish: muvaffak — resulting in success
  • Turkish: başarılı — resulting in success
  • Ukrainian: успі́шний (uspíšnyj) — resulting in success
  • Ukrainian: вда́тний (vdátnyj) — resulting in success
  • Urdu: سپھل (saphal) — resulting in success
  • Vietnamese: thành công — resulting in success
  • Yiddish: הצלחהדיק (hatslokhedik) — resulting in success
Real reading context

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