achieve

[ uh-cheev ]

verb (used with object)

, a·chieved, a·chiev·ing.

1. to bring to a successful end; carry through; accomplish:

   The police crackdown on speeders achieved its purpose.

   Synonyms: reach, realize, execute, effect, complete, consummate

2. to get or attain by effort; gain; obtain:

   to achieve victory.

   Synonyms: win, realize

verb (used without object)

, a·chieved, a·chiev·ing.

1. to bring about an intended result; accomplish some purpose or effect.

achieve

/ əˈtʃiːv /

verb

1. to bring to a successful conclusion; accomplish; attain
2. to gain as by hard work or effort

   to achieve success

Derived Forms

• aˈchiever, noun
• aˈchievable, adjective

Other Words From

• a·chiev·a·ble adjective
• a·chiev·er noun
• out·a·chieve verb (used with object) outachieved outachieving
• pre·a·chieved adjective
• su·per·a·chiev·er noun
• un·a·chiev·a·ble adjective
• un·a·chieved adjective
• well-a·chieved adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of achieve¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English acheven, from Old French achever “to finish,” from phrase a chef “to (the) head,” i.e., “to conclusion”; chief

Word History and Origins

Origin of achieve¹

C14: from Old French achever to bring to an end, from the phrase a chef to a head, to a conclusion

Synonym Study

See do ¹.

Example Sentences

“If you hire too many political hacks, you might get a lot of responsiveness, but if you cut organizations to the bone, it’s going to be harder for you to achieve your core goals.”

From Slate

But since this is such a massive amount of data, to really do anything too fancy would take months and an eye-watering amount of computer processing to achieve.

From Los Angeles Times

Those are the kinds of miraculous advances Musk’s Neuralink startup has been trying to achieve.

From Los Angeles Times

Asked about the incident for the latest issue of Vanity Fair, Sweeney said: "It’s very disheartening to see women tear other women down, especially when women who are successful in other avenues of their industry see younger talent working really hard - hoping to achieve whatever dreams that they may have - and then trying to bash and discredit any work that they’ve done."

From BBC

The Department of Health in England says it wants all pharmacists to work with it to achieve a service fit for the future.

From BBC

Related Words

• accomplish
• attain
• bring about
• carry out
• complete
• conclude
• do
• earn
• enact
• end
• gain
• manage
• obtain
• produce
• reach
• realize
• resolve
• settle
• sign
• solve