Meaning & use
greatest success
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
the most important or impressive achievement that someone or something has had
Grammar: Usually used with 'be', 'achieve', or 'have': Her greatest success was winning the prize.
Patterns
- achieve your greatest success
- someone's greatest success
- the greatest success of something
His greatest success was opening his own restaurant.
The company's greatest success came from its first smartphone.
She achieved her greatest success at the age of forty.
Common combinations
- achieve your greatest success
- He achieved his greatest success after years of hard work.
- someone's greatest success
- The film was her greatest success as a director.
- the greatest success of
- The greatest success of the project was its low cost.
Synonyms and how they differ
- biggest success
- Very similar, but 'biggest' often suggests size or scale, while 'greatest' suggests importance or quality.
- finest hour
- A more literary phrase for a moment of greatest success, often used about a person's career.
Opposites
Commonly confused: greatest success or great success?
greatest success vs great success
'Great success' means something was very successful; 'the greatest success' compares it with all others.
Practice
Complete the sentence: 'Winning the gold medal was her ______.'
Choose one answer.
'Greatest success' is the superlative form needed here to mean the best achievement of her life. 'Greater' compares two things; 'great' is not superlative; 'most great' is not standard English.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “greatest success”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.