Word family noun achievement achiever underachiever ≠ overachiever underachievement ≠ overachievement adjective achievable verb achieve underachieve ≠ overachieve
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishachievementa‧chieve‧ment /əˈtʃiːvmənt/ ●●● S3 W2 AWL noun 1 [countable]DO something important that you succeed in doing by your own effortsachievement of We try to celebrate the achievements of our students. His great achievement is to make all the players into a united team.somebody’s achievement in (doing) something The test measures children’s achievements in reading, spelling, and maths.2 [uncountable]PROUD when you achieve something or when people achieve something Roberts is researching the effect of social class on educational achievement. As we climbed the final few metres, we felt a sense of achievement.COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa great/fine/impressive achievement (=one that deserves to be admired)Winning the award was a great achievement.a remarkable/extraordinary achievement (=one that is unusual or surprising and deserves praise)In recognition of this remarkable achievement he was awarded the OBE.a major/important achievementWriting the book was a major achievement.an outstanding achievement (=an extremely impressive achievement)Eisenhower' s outstanding achievement was to avoid war.a considerable achievement (=one that has a large effect)These studies represent a considerable achievement.somebody’s crowning/supreme achievement (=the best of several impressive achievements)Her appointment to the Paris post was the crowning achievement of her life.verbssomething represents an achievement (=something is an achievement)Few people realised what an enormous achievement Concorde represented.phrasesbe no mean achievement (=be difficult to achieve and therefore worth admiring)He got the top mark in the country which is no mean achievement.be quite an achievement (=be an impressive achievement)Working and bringing up kids on your own is quite an achievement. Examples from the Corpus
achievement• We need to raise the level of academic achievement in public schools.• Five past pupils had this year obtained first-class Honours degrees, an achievement performed only once before, in 1950.• Excessive need to inflate the importance and achievements of oneself, males in general, or both.• Todd always downplayed his athletic achievements.• They read about his achievements in the press, and were filled with pride.• I'm very proud of my achievements as program director.• Implied dismissal of past achievements creates a lack of confidence.• Rose Briant added to her previous achievements by producing the show.• Winning three gold medals is a remarkable achievement.• Oswald's achievement was certainly magnified.• This was some achievement, since my office was on the fifth floor of the World Bank's headquarters.• The purpose: to present an award recognizing special achievement in the fight against a learning disability known as dyslexia.• He didn't realize until much later what a spectacular achievement his father made in getting his commission as an officer.somebody’s achievement in (doing) something• But it is important to put the achievement in a suitably modest context.• Fitness Mate is designed to keep track of several athletes participating in many sports, tracking their achievements in each.• Inevitably there are aspects of performance and achievements in which targets will be difficult to define.• Now they own an international distribution company and have reached the highest levels of achievement in our business.• On any reckoning James of St George's achievement in the field of medieval military architecture was outstanding.• That was an extraordinarily fine achievement in such a short space of time.• There can be no doubt that it is a growth area, which has had distinct achievements in many countries.• This is not to underestimate the Pentagon's achievement in hitting the dummy warhead.sense of achievement• A list was drawn up of events that had, prior to depression, given her a sense of achievement and pleasure.• The alleys were steep and there were steps at intervals but there was a sense of achievement in reaching the top.• She paused just inside her showroom, looking round with a sense of achievement.• A sense of Achievement can be a really effective turn-on.• The pain, agony and exhaustion were replaced by an enormous sense of achievement and relief as they crossed the finishing line.• Just for a moment my glorious sense of achievement faded into apprehension.• Meeting these attainable short-term goals and progressively crossing them off the list can provide an important sense of achievement and reinforcement.• Join in the sense of achievement as Maiden crosses the finish line off Southampton.• Teaching gave me a wonderful sense of achievement. 