Achieve
/əˈt͡ʃiːv/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo succeed in something, now especially in academic performance.
verbTo carry out successfully; to accomplish.
Sentence Examples
You cannot achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd.
We must achieve our aim at any price.
With hard work, you can achieve all your personal goals.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
If she studies diligently every day, she will ____ her goal of becoming a doctor.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You can ____ greatness if you work hard and never give up.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English achieven, acheven, from Anglo-Norman achever, Old French achever, achiever et al., apparently from Late Latin *accapāre, from ad (“to”) + caput (“head”) + -ō (verbal suffix), or alternatively a construction based on Old French chief (“head”). Compare Catalan, Occitan, Portuguese and Spanish acabar, French achever.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Supposing faculties and powers to be the same, far more may be achieved in any line by the aid of a capital, invigorating motive than without it."
— 1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC:
"Full many Countreyes they did overronne,
From the uprising to the setting Sunne,
And many hard adventures did atchieve […]"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"Bradford may have lost on the night but they stubbornly protected a 3-1 first-leg advantage to emulate a feat last achieved by Rochdale in 1962."
— 2013 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 2-1 Bradford (3-4)”, in BBC:
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness."
— c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v]:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
If she studies diligently every day, she will ____ her goal of becoming a doctor.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You can ____ greatness if you work hard and never give up.