SUCCESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does success mean? 

• SUCCESS (noun)
  The noun SUCCESS has 4 senses:

1. an event that accomplishes its intended purpose

2. an attainment that is successful

3. a state of prosperity or fame

4. a person with a record of successes

  Familiarity information: SUCCESS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUCCESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An event that accomplishes its intended purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

the election was a remarkable success for the Whigs

Hypernyms ("success" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "success"):

barnburner (an impressively successful event)

bite ((angling) an instance of a fish taking the bait)

triumph; victory (a successful ending of a struggle or contest)

Godspeed (a successful journey)

Antonym:

failure (an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An attainment that is successful

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

his new play was a great success

Hypernyms ("success" is a kind of...):

attainment (the act of achieving an aim)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "success"):

bang; hit; smash; smasher; strike (a conspicuous success)

bell ringer; bull's eye; home run; mark (something that exactly succeeds in achieving its goal)

conquest (success in mastering something difficult)

coup (a brilliant and notable success)

flying colors; flying colours (complete success)

pass; passing; qualifying (success in satisfying a test or requirement)

overturn; upset (an improbable and unexpected victory)

conquest; seduction (an act of winning the love or sexual favor of someone)

score (the act of scoring in a game or sport)

solution (the successful action of solving a problem)

winning (succeeding with great difficulty)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A state of prosperity or fame

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

he does not consider wealth synonymous with success

Hypernyms ("success" is a kind of...):

prosperity; successfulness (the condition of prospering; having good fortune)

Attribute:

successful (having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome)

unsuccessful (not successful; having failed or having an unfavorable outcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "success"):

big time (the highest level of an occupation (especially in entertainment))

pay dirt (a profitable success)

Antonym:

failure (lack of success)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A person with a record of successes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

achiever; succeeder; success; winner

Context example:

if you want to be a success you have to dress like a success

Hypernyms ("success" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "success"):

first lady (the leading woman in an art or profession)

great (a person who has achieved distinction and honor in some field)

highflier; highflyer (a person of great ability and ambition)

natural (someone regarded as certain to succeed)

sleeper (an unexpected achiever of success)

 Context examples 

“I can only say for myself,” said my aunt, “that I will drink all happiness and success to you, Mr. Micawber, with the utmost pleasure.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Also found was that the higher the dose the higher its efficiency, and that the earlier the substance starts to work, the bigger its success.

(Brazil scientists discover Zika virus inhibitor, Agência Brasil)

His own success demonstrated that Brissenden had been wrong.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The study also found that several blood tests administered before OIT could predict the success of therapy.

(Few people with peanut allergy tolerate peanut after stopping oral immunotherapy, National Institutes of Health)

It is not that I did not think of it, or desire it, as what could alone crown all my other success; but I was proud, too proud to ask again.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Despite that, Maphis and Bhaskar say this isn't a complete success just yet.

(Researchers May Have Found Way to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

He watched her with this idea; but he could hardly tell with what success.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Exactly so—The shape of the eye and the lines about the mouth—I have not a doubt of your success.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She had made the effort with success.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Such efforts have met with limited success to date.

(Cellular immunotherapy targets a common human cancer mutation, NIH)