successful

adjective

suc·​cess·​ful sək-ˈses-fəl 

1

: resulting or terminating in success

a successful attempt

2

: gaining or having gained success

a successful investor

successfully

sək-ˈses-fə-lē 

adverb

successfulness noun

Synonyms of successful

• prosperous
• thriving

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

The elder Dahmer, 57 at the time of his death, was a successful businessman who owned a store, sawmill and farm near Hattiesburg. — Gary Fields, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026

The Second Chance Act similarly focused on successful reentry rather than simple punishment. — Walter Pavlo, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

However, the ShotSpotter technology has reported successful cases. — Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 1 July 2026

Ready for deployment The successful testing increased the platform’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for airborne deployments, according to the company. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 30 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for successful

• distressful
• stressful
• unsuccessful

Kids Definition

successful

adjective

suc·​cess·​ful sək-ˈses-fəl 

1

: resulting or ending in success

2

: gaining or having gained success

successfully

-fə-lē 

adverb

successfulness noun