successful

adjective

suc·​cess·​ful sək-ˈses-fəl How to pronounce successful (audio)
1
: resulting or terminating in success
a successful attempt
2
: gaining or having gained success
a successful investor
successfully adverb
successfulness noun

Examples of successful in a Sentence

the play had a successful run on Broadway sold their successful dry-cleaning business and retired to Hawaii
Recent Examples on the Web Liu’s novel, part of a trilogy, is one of China’s most successful cultural exports in recent years, boasting legions of fans worldwide including former US President Barack Obama. Nectar Gan, CNN, 22 Mar. 2024 And the ones who will be successful will have a strong combination of great international storytelling with great local storytelling. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024 My brother is married, has a 17-month-old boy and helps his wife run a fairly successful restaurant in a resort town in Maryland. Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024 Why would anybody greenlight a spinoff about a minor character who appeared in a smattering of episodes of two moderately successful series over a period of 14 years? Phillip MacIak, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024 An example of one already built is the 55+ community Victory at Verrado, which is the most successful age-qualified community in the Valley with one of the highest price points, Kelly said. Alexandra Hardle, The Arizona Republic, 21 Mar. 2024 The discharge petition, organized by suburban Philadelphia Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, is the latest version of a rarely successful parliamentary technique to force a House vote on a measure that is opposed or otherwise blocked by House leadership. Scott MacFarlane, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2024 Then, Robbie Williams left the band in 1995 to wrestle with personal problems and ultimately rebounded into solo fame, leaving the four other guys to forge much less successful careers on their own. Lisa Raphael, EW.com, 21 Mar. 2024 Various new funding and industry support schemes have begun to supplement the city’s popular Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), one of Asia’s oldest and most successful project markets. Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'successful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of successful was in 1594

Dictionary Entries Near successful

Cite this Entry

“Successful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/successful. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

successful

adjective
suc·​cess·​ful sək-ˈses-fəl How to pronounce successful (audio)
1
: resulting or ending in success
2
: gaining or having gained success
successfully adverb
successfulness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on successful

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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