driven person

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   Someone who is strongly motivated to succeed and works very hard to reach their goals.

   Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a driven person' or 'two driven people'. The adjective 'driven' describes the person; it is not used as a noun by itself.

   Patterns

   • a highly driven person
   • a driven person who ...
   • be a driven person

   She is a driven person who rarely takes a day off.

   As a driven person, he set himself tough targets every year.

   The company looks for driven people who can work without much supervision.

2. 2nouncountable

   Someone who feels an inner pressure to achieve, sometimes at the cost of rest or relationships.

   Grammar: Often used with adverbs like 'very' or 'extremely' to show how strong the motivation is.

   Patterns

   • a very driven person
   • an extremely driven person
   • a driven person who never switches off

   He's a very driven person, and he finds it hard to relax.

   Being a driven person can be exhausting if you never allow yourself a break.

Word forms

Common combinations

highly driven

She's highly driven and always looking for the next challenge.

fiercely driven

He's fiercely driven, sometimes to the point of being hard on his team.

a driven personality

Her driven personality made her a natural choice for the leadership role.

driven to succeed

The young athlete was driven to succeed from an early age.

quietly driven

He's quietly driven; he doesn't talk about his ambitions, he just works.

Synonyms and how they differ

ambitious

Focuses on wanting success and status; 'driven' emphasizes the inner urge and hard work more than the desire for position.

motivated

A more neutral word meaning you have a reason to do something; 'driven' suggests a stronger, more constant inner force.

determined

Means not letting difficulties stop you; 'driven' is more about the need to keep achieving, not just finishing one task.

Opposites

Word family

drive noun

The inner energy or determination that makes someone keep working hard.

driven adjective

Strongly motivated; used before nouns or after linking verbs.

drive verb

To force or urge someone to act: 'Hunger drove them to steal.'

Commonly confused: driven person or driving person?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “driven person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words