Meaning & use
an impressive achievement
Last updated
Meaning
phrasecountable
Something difficult that someone has done successfully and that makes people admire them.
Grammar: Used as a countable noun phrase: you can say 'an impressive achievement' or 'impressive achievements'.
Patterns
- an impressive achievement for someone
- be an impressive achievement
- an impressive achievement in something
Finishing the marathon in under four hours was an impressive achievement for someone who had never run before.
Winning the national spelling contest at the age of nine was an impressive achievement.
The team's rescue of all the trapped climbers was an impressive achievement.
Word forms
| plural | impressive achievements |
|---|
Common combinations
- a truly impressive achievement
- Building the bridge in only a year was a truly impressive achievement.
- an impressive achievement for someone
- Getting top marks in every subject was an impressive achievement for a student who also worked part-time.
- an impressive achievement in something
- Her gold medal was an impressive achievement in a sport she had taken up only two years earlier.
- an impressive achievement given something
- Passing the exam was an impressive achievement given how little time he had to study.
Synonyms and how they differ
- accomplishment
- Very close in meaning, but slightly more formal and often used for a single completed task rather than something admired.
- feat
- Suggests something daring or unusually difficult, so it is stronger and more dramatic than 'achievement'.
- triumph
- Suggests a great victory over difficulty; it sounds bigger and more emotional than 'impressive achievement'.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: an impressive achievement or achievement? an impressive achievement or trophy?
an impressive achievement vs achievement
The noun alone just means something done successfully; adding 'impressive' says other people admire it.
an impressive achievement vs trophy
A trophy is a physical prize, while an achievement is the success itself.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase describes the success itself, so 'Winning the prize was an impressive achievement' fits. Option A wrongly uses it for a person, and options C and D are not natural English patterns.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “an impressive achievement”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.