suc·cess (s k-s s )n. 1. The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted: attributed their success in business to hard work. 2. a. The gaining of fame or prosperity: an artist spoiled by success. b. The extent of such gain. 3. One that is successful: The plan was a success. 4. Obsolete A result or an outcome. [Latin successus, from past participle of succ  dere, to succeed; see succeed.] |
success [səkˈsɛs]
Success/Failure
See Also: BUSINESS; GROWTH; PAST, THE
- The anatomy of the first major success is like the young human body, a miracle only the owner can fully savor —John Fowles
- As he rose like a rocket, he fell like a stick —Thomas Paine
- A certain prosperity coats these people like scent or the layer of buttery light in a painting by Rubens —Jean Thompson
- A conqueror, like a cannon ball, must go on; if he rebounds, his career is over —The Duke of Wellington
- (The midlist author is) dogged by his past sales record, like a utility infielder with a .228 lifetime batting average —Phillip Lopate, New York Times Book Review, May 24, 1987
- Failed … like an old hanging bridge —Marge Piercy
- Fail like a five-year plan —Derek Lambert
- Failure grabs a man like an old and shabby suit —Derek Lambert
- (A great beauty) flourishing like a rose —Isak Dinesen
- Flourishing like a weed in a hot house —Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
- Flourishing like trees —Hilma Wolitzer
- Had risen to his great height like a man lifted to the ceiling by a sort of slow explosion —G. K. Chesterton
- High office is like a pyramid; only two kinds of animals reach the summit, reptiles and eagles —Jean Le Rond d’Alembert
- His life, day after day, was failing like an unreplenished stream —Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Moving up hand over hand … like a champion —Tom Wolfe
- Pursued success as a knight the Holy Grail —Anon
See Also: PERSISTENCE
- Sailed through the world like a white yacht jubilant with flags —John Gardner
- Selling like lemonade at a track meet —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Sell like hotcakes —Anon
Different industries have coined many phrases for things which sell well. This American simile which came into use in the middle of the nineteenth century is still the most widely used. For a twist in meaning there’s “Selling like cold hot cakes” from The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley.
- Sold [books by nineteenth century author Karl May] like pancakes topped by wild blueberries and heavy cream —Vincent Canby, New York Times, June 25, 1986
- Sold like picks and pans in a gold rush —Robert Guenther, Wall Street Journal, August 6, 1986
- Success is as ice cold and lonely as the North Pole —Vicki Baum
See Also: ALONENESS
- Success is feminine and like a woman, if you cringe before her, she will override you —William Faulkner
Faulkner expanded on this simile still further: “So the way to treat her is to show her the back of your hand. Then maybe she will do the crawling.”
- Success on some men looks like a borrowed coat; it sits on you as though it had been made to order —Edith Wharton
- Triumphs like a trumpet —Wallace Stevens
- Wanted his success acknowledged … like the high school loser who dreams of driving to the class reunion in a custom-made sports car —Jean Thompson
- Winning an Oscar … it’s like getting thirty thousand red roses at one time —Louise Fletcher, from Rex Reed interview
- Wore his success like his health —George Garrett
Success
(See also VICTORY.)
bring down the house To elicit a vigorous and lengthy ovation from an audience; to be a smash or great success; sometimes bring down the gallery. The image created by this expression, in which house means ‘theater’ or ‘playhouse,’ is one of such loud, sustained applause as to bring about the collapse of the building. The phrase was in use as early as 1754.
have the last laugh To prove ultimately successful after an apparent defeat; to avenge. The idea of having the last laugh is fairly literal, i.e., though others may laugh now, the butt of their humor will laugh later when, in the final analysis, he is victorious. This phrase was popularized in the 1937 song “They All Laughed,”by George and Ira Gershwin:
They all laughed at us and how!
But Ho, Ho, Ho!
Who’s got the last laugh now?
Related expressions are he who laughs last laughs best, and he laughs best that laughs last. The latter appeared in The Mistake (1706) by Sir John Vanbrugh.
hit the jackpot See GOOD LUCK.
land on one’s feet To achieve success despite predictable loss; to extricate one-self from a potentially dangerous situation; to escape failure narrowly. This popular expression usually appears in a context implying that the one who “lands on his feet” does so through undeserved luck; he repeatedly gets himself into scrapes but somehow survives. It is apparently based on the notion that one plummeting downward is unlikely to land safely, let alone feet first.
pan out To succeed; to yield results, especially favorable ones; to occur. This expression alludes to panning for gold, a method of prospecting in which a shallow pan is used to scoop a small amount of gravel and sand from a stream. Any gold present settles to the bottom of the pan as the gravel and sand are washed away. Pan out, then, originally indicated a successful prospecting venture. As the California gold rush that spawned this expression began to subside, pan out became more figurative, and has remained in widespread usage since the late 19th century.
Socialism … may pan out as a new kind of religion. (Sinclair Lewis, Our Mr. Wrenn, 1914)
pay dirt Any desired result or goal, especially one related to wealth or success; a fortunate discovery. Literally, pay dirt is a mining term that refers to an area of land that contains enough valuable metals or other resources to merit excavation. After its introduction in the 1870s, pay dirt soon became more figurative, commonly being applied to any success.
I didn’t hit pay dirt until near the bottom of the second box of discarded telephone directories. (John Evans, Halo in Blood, 1946)
In recent years, pay dirt has been used frequently to describe the end zone (goal area) of a football field.
ring the bell To succeed, to make a hit; to be the best. The bell of this expression may be that attached to the strength-testing machine at carnivals which rings when a player is successful. Or it may be the bell in target shooting that rings when the bull’s-eye is hit.
strike oil To have good luck or success, especially financial; to discover a source of potential personal aggrandizement; to strike it rich; to hit pay dirt. This expression alludes to oil as an entity which inevitably leads to wealth and success, a concept strengthened in recent years by the increasing prominence of Middle East oil barons. Though still used literally to describe the locating of underground oil, strike oil is commonly applied figuratively in contexts directly or indirectly related to money or other personal good fortune.
He has certainly “struck oil” in the Costa Rica and Honduras loans. {Punch, March 6, 1875)
turn up trumps To turn out successfully, to come out better than expected, to turn out well or fine; to be lucky, to land on one’s feet.
Instances … of short courtships and speedy marriages, which have turned up trumps—I beg your pardon—which have turned out well, after all. (Wilkie Collins, No Name, 1862)
The allusion is to drawing or playing a winning trump card. See trump card, PLOY.
with flying colors Victoriously, triumphantly, successfully; handily, easily; superbly, in extraordinary fashion. This phrase, usually in expressions such as come off with flying colors and come out of it with flying colors, alludes to a triumphant fleet of ships sailing into home port with their colors (i.e., flags) proudly displayed on the mastheads. Used figuratively, with flying colors often implies that one has not only survived a potentially precarious predicament but has been victorious to boot.
- marplot - A person who spoils a plot or who ruins the success of an undertaking or process.
- acid test - A test that is conclusive of the value or success of something, derived from the original use of nitric acid as a test for gold.
- core asset, core competency - A core asset is something essential to success, and a core competency is a distinguishing advantage.
- exploit - Originally meant "progress, success," and "speed."
| Noun | 1. |  success - an event that accomplishes its intended purpose; "let's call heads a success and tails a failure"; "the election was a remarkable success for the Whigs"barnburner - an impressively successful event; "the rock concert was a real barnburner" Godspeed - a successful journey; "they wished him Godspeed" triumph, victory - a successful ending of a struggle or contest; "a narrow victory"; "the general always gets credit for his army's victory"; "clinched a victory"; "convincing victory"; "the agreement was a triumph for common sense" bite - (angling) an instance of a fish taking the bait; "after fishing for an hour he still had not had a bite" failure - an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose; "the surprise party was a complete failure" |
| 2. | success - an attainment that is successful; "his success in the marathon was unexpected"; "his new play was a great success" attainment - the act of achieving an aim; "the attainment of independence" winning - succeeding with great difficulty; "winning is not everything" hit, smasher, smash, bang, strike - a conspicuous success; "that song was his first hit and marked the beginning of his career"; "that new Broadway show is a real smasher"; "the party went with a bang" home run, bell ringer, bull's eye, mark - something that exactly succeeds in achieving its goal; "the new advertising campaign was a bell ringer"; "scored a bull's eye"; "hit the mark"; "the president's speech was a home run" conquest - success in mastering something difficult; "the conquest of space" coup - a brilliant and notable success flying colors, flying colours - complete success; "they passed inspection with flying colors" qualifying, passing, pass - success in satisfying a test or requirement; "his future depended on his passing that test"; "he got a pass in introductory chemistry" overturn, upset - an improbable and unexpected victory; "the biggest upset since David beat Goliath" score - the act of scoring in a game or sport; "the winning score came with less than a minute left to play" solution - the successful action of solving a problem; "the solution took three hours" | |
| 3. | success - a state of prosperity or fame; "he is enjoying great success"; "he does not consider wealth synonymous with success" successfulness, prosperity - the condition of prospering; having good fortune big time - the highest level of an occupation (especially in entertainment) pay dirt - a profitable success; "the inventor worked for years before hitting pay dirt" failure - lack of success; "he felt that his entire life had been a failure"; "that year there was a crop failure" | |
| 4. |  success - a person with a record of successes; "his son would never be the achiever that his father was"; "only winners need apply"; "if you want to be a success you have to dress like a success"individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" first lady - the leading woman in an art or profession great - a person who has achieved distinction and honor in some field; "he is one of the greats of American music" natural - someone regarded as certain to succeed; "he's a natural for the job" sleeper - an unexpected achiever of success; "the winner was a true sleeper--no one expected him to get it" |
success
victory failure, collapse, disaster, misfortune, downfall
hit flop (informal), fiasco, washout, clunker (informal), dead duck (slang)
big name nobody, loser, no-hoper, non-person, saddo (Brit. slang)
"Eighty percent of success is showing up" [Woody Allen]
"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail" [Gore Vidal]
"Failure is inevitable. Success is elusive" [Steven Spielberg]
"Getting on is the opium of the middle classes" [Walter James]
"To succeed in the world we must look foolish but be wise" [C.L. de Montesquieu Pensées]
"Success has ruin'd many a man" [Benjamin Franklin Poor Richard's Almanack]
"The secret of business success is honesty and sincerity. If you can fake those, you've got it made" [attributed to Groucho Marx]
"If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut" [Albert Einstein]
"Success is relative;"
"It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things" [T.S. Eliot The Family Reunion]
"success: the one unpardonable sin against one's fellows" [Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary]
"Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet 'em on your way down" [Wilson Mizner]
"Nothing succeeds like success"
"There is always room at the top"
success never went to his head → el éxito nunca se le subió a la cabeza
congratulations on your success! → ¡enhorabuena, lo has conseguido!
the key to success at school → la clave del éxito escolar
his success at the Olympics → sus logros en las Olimpiadas
we have had some success in reducing the national debt → hemos conseguido or logrado reducir en parte la deuda pública
to make a success of sth would you say he's made a success of his life? → ¿dirías que ha triunfado en la vida?
we have made a success of the venture → hemos conseguido or logrado que la operación sea un éxito
to meet with success → tener éxito
to wish sb every success → desear a algn todo lo mejor
she tried without success to get a loan from the bank → intentó, sin éxito, obtener un préstamo del banco
I tried to distract him but without success → intenté distraerlo pero no lo conseguí or logré
the police success rate in tracking down murderers → el número de asesinos que la policía logra atrapar
success story N → éxito m
she was a great success → ha avuto un grande successo
without success → senza successo or risultato
to make a success of sth → riuscire bene in qc
to meet with success → avere successo
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