achievement

noun achieve·ment \ ə-ˈchēv-mənt \

Updated on: 21 May 2018

Definition of achievement

1 : the act of achieving something

the achievement of an ambition

2 a : a result gained by effort : accomplishment

being honored for her academic achievements

a major scientific achievement

b : a great or heroic deed

3 : the quality and quantity of a student's work

standardized tests to measure achievement

See achievement defined for English-language learners

See achievement defined for kids

Examples of achievement in a Sentence

The discovery of DNA was a major scientific achievement.
It was a great achievement.
Getting the project done on time was a real achievement.

Recent Examples of achievement from the Web

On this episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, Alphabet chairman John Hennessy and Google distinguished engineer Dave Patterson talk about winning the 2017 Turing Award, a prestigious achievement in computer science.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Dave Patterson and John Hennessy on Recode Decode," 17 May 2018
Pep, unsurprisingly, picked up both the Premier League and LMA manager of the year awards as the awards are as much about status as achievement.

— SI.com, "Why Miracle Worker David Wagner Should've Been Named Manager of the Year Over Pep Guardiola," 16 May 2018
It’s by far the greatest public-health achievement of the 21st century.

— felix salmon, WIRED, "Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Ethically Iffy ‘Philanthropy," 15 May 2018
Among the achievements of the victims’-rights movement is the fact that victim-impact evidence is no longer much questioned.

— jill lepore, The New Yorker, "The Rise of the Victims’-Rights Movement," 14 May 2018
Those airports with names honoring the achievements of a person include John Wayne, Charles Lindbergh, Norman Mineta, Charles Schulz and Bob Hope (although the last one is being quietly replaced).

— spud hilton, San Francisco Chronicle, "Women were pioneers of flight. So why aren’t any airports named for them?," 12 May 2018
Colyer saw passage of a school finance bill set to boost funding by more than $500 million over five years as a solid achievement.

— hunter woodall, kansascity, "As Kris Kobach attacks, Jeff Colyer holds back. Is that a winning strategy? | The Kansas City Star," 26 Apr. 2018
For smaller buildings, reaching higher levels of self-sufficiency isn’t terribly hard, but for a hulking museum like NMAAHC, attaining Gold status constitutes a real achievement.

— ryan p. smith, Smithsonian, "The African American History and Culture Museum Wins Gold for Going Green," 21 Apr. 2018
Erdogan touts the airport as a legacy project and a crowning achievement of his 16 years in power.

— onur ant, Bloomberg.com, "Financial Strain Seen at World’s Biggest Airport Before It Opens," 3 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'achievement.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of achievement

borrowed from Anglo-French achevement, from achever "to achieve" + -ment -ment

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

achievement Synonyms

Phrases

a feather in one's cap;

Synonym Discussion of achievement

feat, exploit, achievement mean a remarkable deed. feat implies strength or dexterity or daring.

- an acrobatic feat

exploit suggests an adventurous or heroic act.

- his exploits as a spy

achievement implies hard-won success in the face of difficulty or opposition.

- her achievements as a chemist

ACHIEVEMENT Defined for English Language Learners

achievement

noun

Definition of achievement for English Language Learners

: something that has been done or achieved through effort : a result of hard work
: the act of achieving something : the state or condition of having achieved or accomplished something