Meaning & use
top achiever
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person who performs better than most others in their school, job, or field.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a top achiever' for one person and 'top achievers' for several.
Patterns
- a top achiever in something
- one of the top achievers
She was a top achiever in every subject at school.
The company rewards its top achievers with bonuses and extra leave.
He is a top achiever in sales, beating his target every quarter.
nouncountable
Someone who reaches a very high level in a competition or exam.
Grammar: Often used in education and sports reporting, sometimes before another noun: 'top-achiever list'.
Patterns
- among the top achievers
- the top achiever in a competition
Only the top achievers were invited to the national final.
She finished as the top achiever in her year group.
Word forms
| plural | top achievers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a top achiever in
- He is a top achiever in mathematics.
- among the top achievers
- Her name appears among the top achievers this term.
- reward top achievers
- Many firms reward top achievers with bonuses.
- a consistent top achiever
- She has been a consistent top achiever for five years.
- the school's top achievers
- The school's top achievers were praised at assembly.
Synonyms and how they differ
- high achiever
- Very close in meaning, but used more in education and psychology than in business.
- star performer
- More informal and often about work or sport; it stresses visible brilliance rather than steady results.
- overachiever
- Different: this describes someone who does better than expected, sometimes with a hint of criticism.
Opposites
Word family
- achieve verb
- to succeed in doing something after effort
- achievement noun
- something done successfully, or the act of succeeding
- achievable adjective
- possible to reach or complete
Commonly confused: top achiever or overachiever?
top achiever vs overachiever
An overachiever does better than people predicted, often with a critical tone; a top achiever simply performs at the highest level.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'top achiever' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Top achiever' is a countable noun, so it needs an article: 'a top achiever in a subject'. Option 2 misses the article, option 3 uses the wrong pattern, and option 4 turns the noun into a verb that does not exist.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “top achiever”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.