succeed

verb

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suc·ceed | \ sək-ˈsēd

succeeded; succeeding; succeeds

Definition of succeed

intransitive verb

1a : to come next after another in office or position or in possession of an estate especially : to inherit sovereignty, rank, or title

b : to follow after another in order

2a : to turn out well

b : to attain a desired object or end students who succeed in college

3 obsolete : to pass to a person by inheritance

transitive verb

1 : to follow in sequence and especially immediately

2 : to come after as heir or successor

Other Words from succeed Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym Example Sentences Phrases Containing succeed Learn More About succeed

Choose the Right Synonym for succeed

follow, succeed, ensue, supervene mean to come after something or someone. follow may apply to a coming after in time, position, or logical sequence. speeches followed the dinner succeed implies a coming after immediately in a sequence determined by natural order, inheritance, election, or laws of rank. she succeeded her father as head of the business ensue commonly suggests a logical consequence or naturally expected development. after the talk a general discussion ensued supervene suggests the following or beginning of something unforeseen or unpredictable. unable to continue because of supervening circumstances

Examples of succeed in a Sentence

Ghosh's remarkable detective work succeeds in rescuing an entire group of marginalized figures from British and South Asian amnesia, if not outright denial. — Maya Jasanoff, New York Review of Books, 18 Dec. 2008 Enter Gordon Brown. Journalistic legend has it that, over dinner in a trendy London restaurant as long ago as 1994, the two of them settled that Blair would lead the Labour party for an unspecified length of time and Brown would then succeed him. — David Pryce-Jones, National Review, 28 May 2007 Maguire, a freelance writer who specializes in culture and technology and recently published a book about spelling bees, paints a vivid portrait of Sullivan as a tough-minded micromanager who tightly controlled every aspect of his show, even telling Ella Fitzgerald what to sing. Behind the avuncular, slightly befuddled façade viewers knew, he writes, was a man consumed by ambition and driven to succeed at any cost. — Peter Keepnews, New York Times Book Review, 11 June 2006 You can succeed where others failed. The plan just might succeed. Their attempt seemed unlikely to succeed. Both of them have ambitions to succeed the prime minister. She will succeed him as chair of the committee. The Queen died and was succeeded by James I. James I succeeded to the throne upon the Queen's death in 1603. See More

Recent Examples on the Web Given the thinness of the Martian atmosphere, the scientists and engineers who worked on the Ingenuity weren’t sure the experiment would succeed at all. — Christian Davenport, Washington Post, 13 May 2022 The basic idea is that, while most startup companies fail, those that succeed grow at an exponential rate that more than makes up for the losses. — Kim Phillips-fein, The New Republic, 11 May 2022 Is charisma the reason why psychopaths succeed in society? — Mark Travers, Forbes, 7 May 2022 No one, except maybe Donald Trump and his inner circle, expected the ex-president’s legal challenge to Twitter’s permanent ban on him to succeed. — Todd Spangler, Variety, 6 May 2022 With Facebook bailing on the audio space after just one year, Axios’ Scott Rosenberg is starting to wonder when the Meta division will actually succeed at entering a new market. — Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 4 May 2022 And in case an attack does succeed, a warning system is set up to alert the company. — Konrad Putzier, WSJ, 3 May 2022 Senator Heinrich was a key advocate for the advancement of White Sands into park status, seeing its bill succeed after a large community effort and two years in Congress changed its designation in 2020. — Emily Pennington, Outside Online, 2 May 2022 The pressure to both create and also succeed critically and commercially can be exhausting. — Amy Dickinson, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Apr. 2022 See More

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

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Dictionary Entries Near succeed

succedent

succeed

succent

Statistics for succeed

Last Updated

15 May 2022

Cite this Entry

“Succeed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/succeed. Accessed 19 May. 2022.

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More Definitions for succeed

succeed

verb

suc·ceed | \ sək-ˈsēd

succeeded; succeeding

Kids Definition of succeed

1 : to achieve a desired result : be successful Half of them wanted me to mess up, and half of them wanted me to succeed.— Jack Gantos, Joey Pigza Loses Control

2 : to turn out well The plan succeeded.

3 : to come after : follow This new model of car succeeds the old one.

4 : to come next after another person in office or position

succeed

intransitive verb

suc·ceed | \ sək-ˈsēd

Legal Definition of succeed

1 : to come next after another in office or position

2a : to take something by succession succeeded to his mother's estate

b : to acquire the rights, obligations, and charges of a decedent in property comprising an estate the heir, who accepts, is considered as having succeeded to the deceased from the moment of his death — Louisiana Civil Code

transitive verb

1 : to follow in sequence and especially immediately

2 : to come after as heir or successor