suc ‧ cess ‧ ful S2 W1 /səkˈsesf ə l/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ success , ↑ succession , ↑ successor ; adjective : ↑ successful ≠ ↑ unsuccessful , ↑ successive ; verb : ↑ succeed ; adverb : ↑ successfully ≠ ↑ unsuccessfully ]
1 . achieving what you wanted, or having the effect or result you intended:
The operation was successful.
a highly successful (=very successful) meeting
successful in (doing) something
Were you successful in persuading him to change his mind?
2 . a successful business, film, product etc makes a lot of money:
The show’s had a pretty successful run.
a highly successful (=very successful) product
3 . a successful person earns a lot of money or is very well known and respected:
Arthur was a highly successful (=very successful) businessman.
successful in
He later became successful in politics.
successful as
I think she’ll be successful as a photographer.
—successfully adverb :
He successfully completed a master’s degree.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ successful achieving what you wanted, or having the effect or result you intended:
He applied for a visa three times and in the end he was successful.
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The treatment was successful.
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It was a highly successful campaign.
▪ effective having the effect or result that was wanted - used especially about treatments, drugs, or methods:
The drug is effective against a range of diseases.
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We still haven't found an effective way to solve the problem.
▪ victorious successful as a result of winning in a game, election, war etc:
the captain of the victorious team
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She emerged victorious in the second round of voting.
▪ promising likely to be very successful in the future, used especially about someone who is good at a job, sport, art etc:
a promising young athlete
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He gave up a promising career in banking.
▪ thriving very successful – used about a company, industry, or organization that is doing well at a particular time:
The area has a thriving tourist industry.
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The school is thriving academically.
▪ booming extremely successful – used about an economy, or when business or trade is increasing:
the booming economy in China
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Business is booming.