ACHIEVEMENT Synonyms: 80 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the noun 'achievement' differ from other similar words?

The words exploit and feat are common synonyms of achievement . While all three words mean "a remarkable deed," achievement implies hard-won success in the face of difficulty or opposition. // her achievements as a chemist

Q: When can 'exploit' be used instead of 'achievement'?

In some situations, the words exploit and achievement are roughly equivalent. However, exploit suggests an adventurous or heroic act. // his exploits as a spy

Q: When is it sensible to use 'feat' instead of 'achievement'?

The words feat and achievement can be used in similar contexts, but feat implies strength or dexterity or daring. // an acrobatic feat

achievement

noun

ə-ˈchēv-mənt

Definition of achievement

as in success

a successful result brought about by hard work this improvement in your time for a 10K road race is quite an achievement!

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in execution

the doing of an action what you're asking is the achievement of a miracle

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as in accomplishment

the state of being actual or complete you should be proud of the achievement of your goals

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Synonym Chooser

How does the noun achievement differ from other similar words?

The words exploit and feat are common synonyms of achievement. While all three words mean "a remarkable deed," achievement implies hard-won success in the face of difficulty or opposition.

her achievements as a chemist

When can exploit be used instead of achievement?

In some situations, the words exploit and achievement are roughly equivalent. However, exploit suggests an adventurous or heroic act.

his exploits as a spy

When is it sensible to use feat instead of achievement?

The words feat and achievement can be used in similar contexts, but feat implies strength or dexterity or daring.

an acrobatic feat

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of achievement Nevertheless, local leaders in the Quad Cities said locking in the funding is a significant achievement. — Daniel C. Vock, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026 Earlier this month, a pair of ceremonies, formerly called the Creative Arts Emmys, honored artistic and technical achievements as well as some performance categories. — Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026 An explosive presence in politics during her 50-year-long career, Bonino was one of the few Italian political figures who scored important achievements both at home and internationally. — ABC News, 11 Sep. 2026 Established in 1975, the Rolling Stone College Journalism Awards seek to encourage achievement in student journalism and recognize excellence among college newspaper reporters, writers, and editors. — Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for achievement

Recent Examples of Synonyms for achievement

Noun

Even with their reluctance to run, the Tigers rank last with a 69 percent success rate on steals.

— Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
But, Pace says, those successes also should raise questions among policymakers about whether and why a civil government agency such as NASA needs to operate launch sites in the first place.

— Elizabeth Howell, Scientific American, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of success

Noun

What ‘Higher-Performance Marketing’ Means Higher-performance marketing is not measured by speed of execution.

— George Couris, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
This, together with the execution of Lyanna’s father and oldest brother by Rhaegar’s father, the titular Mad King Aerys II, spurs Lyanna’s betrothed, Robert Baratheon (Callum Woodhouse), to move against Aerys.

— Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of execution

Noun

Still, with all the aforementioned accomplishments, and decades later, Steinem said that her naysayers used her bunny work in an attempt to discredit her.

— Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
To Morrison, as well as to the filmmakers, this awful backstory makes something cathartic of his accomplishment.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of accomplishment

Noun

Many of the buildings were cavernous fulfillment centers built during the pandemic-era online-shopping boom that were sitting empty near highways, airports and other transportation hubs.

— María Luisa Paúl, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026
With fulfillment time as the firm’s North Star KPI, the team combined RPA, low-code tools and agentic AI to speed up inbound and outbound logistics, giving AI real autonomy over routing decisions.

— Rajesh Gharpure, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of fulfillment

Noun

The song was born of the realization that, as a professional entertainer and family breadwinner from the age of 9 — born to loving but woefully unprepared teen parents — Becky stepped in as head of the household.

— Suzy Exposito, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026
In his mind, the shift towards that realization was noticeably dramatic.

— Chris Barilla, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of realization

Noun

But any system for sports that isn’t negotiated by labor—the athletes—is bound to bring about implementation and interpretation disagreements and, in some cases, litigation.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 16 Sep. 2026
The Democratic Republic of Congo sought to speed up the implementation of a strategic mining partnership with the US, which is looking to rival China’s influence in Africa.

— Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of implementation

Noun

What happens when the response to the horror of 9/11 becomes an arena for perpetration of further crimes, rather than the healing of wounds already inflicted?

— Christopher Coffman, The Conversation, 24 Aug. 2026
Pipkins is charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder in perpetration of a kidnapping.

— KC Baker, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2025

Definition of perpetration

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“Achievement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/achievement. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of achievement

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