as in improvements
an instance of notable progress in the development of knowledge, technology, or skill
Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin was one of medicine's great breakthroughs, for penicillin became the first antibiotic to successfully combat bacterial infections in humans
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Recent Examples of breakthroughs
Rather than compete on raw rendering quality across all videos, the company has spent four years optimizing for one specific creative input — music — and the breakthroughs that audio-first design unlocks.
—
Vivian Toh, Forbes.com, 30 May 2026
The Debate Shifts Chan hopes that the technical breakthroughs his team made can now be extended to model the full nitrogenase enzyme and its reaction.
—Quanta Magazine, 29 May 2026
The discovery serves as a reminder that scientific breakthroughs can come from museum collections as well as newfound fossils, and that amateur dinosaur enthusiasts also can play an important part in identifying species new to science, Zietlow noted.
—Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 28 May 2026
The fact that Coltrane first gained renown and made many of his initial breakthroughs in Davis’ band between 1955-60 provides one possible answer, says trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who got to know Davis as a young lion making a name for himself in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, circa 1982.
—Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 28 May 2026
Biotech is producing scientific breakthroughs that once seemed impossible.
—Allison Deangelis, STAT, 28 May 2026
Pockets of teams were already making breakthroughs on their own.
—Rob Giglio, Fortune, 28 May 2026
The newer generation of operators seems far less dependent on hypothetical future breakthroughs.
—Sara Payan, Rolling Stone, 27 May 2026
The development proves that tomorrow’s computing breakthroughs might not come from building bigger, hotter chips.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 20 May 2026
Vivian Toh, Forbes.com, 30 May 2026
The Debate Shifts Chan hopes that the technical breakthroughs his team made can now be extended to model the full nitrogenase enzyme and its reaction.
—Quanta Magazine, 29 May 2026
The discovery serves as a reminder that scientific breakthroughs can come from museum collections as well as newfound fossils, and that amateur dinosaur enthusiasts also can play an important part in identifying species new to science, Zietlow noted.
—Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 28 May 2026
The fact that Coltrane first gained renown and made many of his initial breakthroughs in Davis’ band between 1955-60 provides one possible answer, says trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who got to know Davis as a young lion making a name for himself in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, circa 1982.
—Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 28 May 2026
Biotech is producing scientific breakthroughs that once seemed impossible.
—Allison Deangelis, STAT, 28 May 2026
Pockets of teams were already making breakthroughs on their own.
—Rob Giglio, Fortune, 28 May 2026
The newer generation of operators seems far less dependent on hypothetical future breakthroughs.
—Sara Payan, Rolling Stone, 27 May 2026
The development proves that tomorrow’s computing breakthroughs might not come from building bigger, hotter chips.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 20 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for breakthroughs
Noun
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In the meantime, Smith has some bug fixes and some minor improvements planned, as well as combat sports- and soccer-specific versions of GeoSports.—
Justin Birnbaum,
Sportico.com,
28 May 2026
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The city’s Lake Austin overlay adds another layer of limitation, regulating how owners can build near the water, including the size, placement and expansion of homes, docks, bulkheads and other shoreline improvements within 1,000 feet of the lake.—
Spencer Elliott,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Noun
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The project demonstrates how advances in artificial intelligence and machine vision can be combined with precision motion-control systems to automate highly specific tasks.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
2 June 2026
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Over 40 million people worldwide live with HIV, and advances in HIV prevention, particularly PrEP, have reshaped the landscape.—
Christina Ray Stanton,
Time,
2 June 2026
Noun
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According to the Aerospace Corporation, early research results are encouraging and are pointing toward meaningful advancements in solid rocket propulsion control.—
Aditya Jadhav,
Interesting Engineering,
1 June 2026
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Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Breakthroughs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breakthroughs. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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