What does "succeed" mean?
To follow something in sequence or time.
Succeed
/səkˈsiːd/ verb
verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To follow something in sequence or time.
- Grammar: succeed is listed as verb.
- Nearest alternatives: follow, ensue, ability to work, accomplish.
- Useful contrasts: preceding, notworks, attempt.
- Usage evidence: You are sure to succeed in time.
How to use "succeed"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "succeed" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "succeed" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "succeed" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "succeed" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "succeed" is acting as verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "follow" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "succeed", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To follow something in sequence or time. transitive
"Autumn succeeds summer."
- 2 Misconstruction of secede. alt-of, misconstruction
- 3 be the successor (of) wordnet
- 4 To replace or supplant someone in order vis-à-vis an office, position, or title. transitive
"The king's eldest son succeeds his father on the throne."
- 5 attain success or reach a desired goal wordnet
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 To come after or follow; to be subsequent or consequent; (often with to). intransitive
"Her arms were like legs of mutton, her breasts like giant cabbages; her face, broad and fleshy, gave you an impression of almost indecent nakedness, and vast chin succeeded to vast chin."
- 7 To come in the place of another person, thing, or event; to come next in the usual, natural, or prescribed course of things; to follow; hence, to come next in the possession of anything; (often with to). intransitive
"Following the death of his mother, he succeeded to the throne."
- 8 To come in the place of another person, thing, or event; to come next in the usual, natural, or prescribed course of things; to follow; hence, to come next in the possession of anything; (often with to).; To ascend the throne after the removal or death of the occupant. intransitive
"Princess Buttercup succeeded to the throne as queen after King Willoughby died."
- 9 To prevail in obtaining an intended objective or accomplishment; to prosper as a result or conclusion of a particular effort. intransitive
"The persecution of any righteous practice has never succeeded in the face of history; in fact, it can expedite the collapse of the persecutory regime."
- 10 To prosper or attain success and beneficial results in general. intransitive
"voted most likely to succeed"
- 11 To turn out, fare, do (well or ill). dated, intransitive
"In some parts of Germany it is commonly believed that whatever is undertaken when the moon is on the increase succeeds well [...] whereas business undertaken in the wane of the moon is doomed to failure."
- 12 To support; to prosper; to promote or give success to. transitive
"Succeed my wish and second my design."
- 13 To descend, as an estate or an heirloom, in the same family; to devolve; (often with to). intransitive
"A paterfamilias could arrange a marriage or emancipate a child without its mother's consent, and if the mother died intestate (possibly because her tutor refused to approve her will) her estate succeeded to her siblings, not to her husband or children, […]"
- 14 To fall heir to; to inherit. obsolete, rare, transitive
"Else let my brother die, / If not a feodary, but only he / Owe and succeed thy weakness."
- 15 To go down or near (with to). intransitive, obsolete, rare
"Who, ever as he saw him nigh succeed, / Gan cry aloud with horrible affright, […]"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"You are sure to succeed in time."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "succeed"?
Common synonyms include: follow, ensue, ability to work, accomplish, accomplish, achieve.
How do you use "succeed" in a sentence?
You are sure to succeed in time.
How do you pronounce "succeed"?
Pronounced /səkˈsiːd/.
Etymology
From Old French succeder, from Latin succedere (“to go under, go from under, come under, approach, follow, take the place of, receive by succession, prosper, be successful”).