Meaning & use
succeed
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To achieve a desired aim or result, especially after effort.
Grammar: No object; use in + gerund for an achieved action: succeed in finishing, not *succeed to finish.
Patterns
- succeed in doing something
- succeed at something
- succeed against the odds
She finally succeeded in passing the driving test.
The plan succeeded beyond our expectations.
They succeeded against the odds and reached the final.
verbintransitive
To do well in a job, role, subject, or activity.
Grammar: Often followed by as, in, or at: succeed as a nurse, in business, at school.
Patterns
- succeed as someone
- succeed in something
- succeed at something
He succeeded as a teacher because he listened to students.
If you practice daily, you will succeed at the exam.
She wants to succeed in publishing without moving abroad.
verbtransitive or intransitiveformal
To come after someone and take their position or rank.
Grammar: Transitive: succeed the manager; formal intransitive: succeed to the throne, not succeed in the throne.
Patterns
- succeed someone
- succeed someone as something
- succeed to something
The deputy will succeed the director next month.
Queen Elizabeth II succeeded to the throne in 1952.
He succeeded his mother as head of the family firm.
Word forms
| third person singular | succeeds |
|---|---|
| past tense | succeeded |
| past participle | succeeded |
| -ing form | succeeding |
Common combinations
- succeed in doing something
- The team succeeded in reducing costs by ten percent.
- succeed at school
- Extra tutoring helped him succeed at school.
- succeed against the odds
- The small clinic succeeded against the odds.
- succeed someone as leader
- She will succeed him as leader after the election.
Synonyms and how they differ
- manage
- Common in manage to do something for one difficult success; succeed is broader and can be ongoing.
- prosper
- Emphasizes doing well over time, especially financially or in life, not one achieved goal.
- thrive
- Means grow strongly and flourish; success is the result rather than development.
Opposites
Word family
- success noun
- The achievement of an aim or a person/thing that does well.
- successful adjective
- Having achieved an aim or doing well.
- successfully adverb
- In a way that achieves the desired result.
- successor noun
- A person who comes after another in a job or position.
- succession noun
- The process of following someone in rank or a sequence of events.
Commonly confused: succeed or success? succeed or proceed?
succeed vs success
Success is the noun; succeed is the verb.
succeed vs proceed
Proceed means continue or move forward; succeed means achieve a result or come after someone.
Practice
The king died, and his son ___ the throne.
Choose one answer.
Succeed to the throne is the formal phrase for inheriting royal position. Succeed in and succeed at are used with activities or gerunds, not with throne in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “succeed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.