Meaning & use
great accomplishment
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Meanings
phrasecountable
Something important and impressive that someone has succeeded in doing after effort.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a great accomplishment' or 'great accomplishments'.
Patterns
- a great accomplishment for someone
- achieve a great accomplishment
- consider something a great accomplishment
Finishing the marathon was a great accomplishment for her.
The team's greatest accomplishment was winning the national title.
He sees raising three children as his great accomplishment in life.
phraseuncountable
The act of completing something difficult or noteworthy successfully.
Grammar: Uncountable when it refers to the process or fact of achieving: 'a sense of great accomplishment'.
Patterns
- a sense of great accomplishment
- great accomplishment in something
She felt a deep sense of great accomplishment after the exam.
There is great accomplishment in finishing what you start.
Common combinations
- a sense of accomplishment
- He felt a real sense of accomplishment after fixing the car himself.
- a major accomplishment
- Passing the bar exam was a major accomplishment.
- proud accomplishment
- Her proudest accomplishment is learning to speak Japanese.
- achieve an accomplishment
- You achieve an accomplishment through patience and hard work.
- lifetime accomplishment
- The award honored his lifetime accomplishments in science.
Synonyms and how they differ
- achievement
- Very close in meaning and often interchangeable, but 'achievement' is more neutral and common in formal writing.
- feat
- A feat is a single impressive act, often physical or daring, while an accomplishment can be a long process.
- success
- Success focuses on the good result; accomplishment stresses the effort of completing something.
Opposites
Word family
- accomplish verb
- To succeed in doing something.
- accomplished adjective
- Highly skilled or completed successfully.
Commonly confused: great accomplishment or achievement?
great accomplishment vs achievement
'Achievement' and 'accomplishment' are near-synonyms, but 'achievement' is the more usual word in academic and formal contexts.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'great accomplishment' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'A great accomplishment' is a countable phrase meaning an impressive success, so 'Winning the prize was a great accomplishment' fits. Option A uses the wrong verb; option C repeats the idea awkwardly; option D misuses 'accomplishing' as an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “great accomplishment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.