What does successfulness mean?
Successfulness means the quality or state of being successful. It is most often used in formal, analytical, or evaluative writing, especially when discussing the effectiveness of a person, plan, campaign, institution, or strategy. For example, writers may assess the successfulness of a policy by examining whether it achieved its intended results. The word can also refer more broadly to the capacity to attain goals or favorable outcomes. In everyday language, however, success is usually more natural as a noun, while successful is commonly used to describe the person, plan, or outcome concerned. Successfulness is therefore useful chiefly when the discussion focuses not on a particular achievement itself but on the condition or quality of consistently succeeding. Although understandable and occasionally encountered in careful prose, it sounds more formal and less idiomatic than its shorter alternatives.
nounThe quality or state of being successful, especially in achieving a desired goal or obtaining a favorable outcome.
- The quality or state of being successful.
"The campaign was judged by the successfulness of its efforts to raise public awareness."
"His successfulness as a negotiator was evident in the terms he secured for his clients."
"The study examines the successfulness of the program in reducing regional inequality."
The plural is grammatically regular but rare in use.
"The study compares the successfulnesses of several competing approaches."
While success names the achievement, successfulness names the quality that makes achievement possible—and is far more likely to appear in formal writing than in everyday conversation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does successfulness come from?
Successfulness is formed from successful plus the noun-forming suffix -ness. The adjective successful in turn comes from success, which entered English from Latin successus, the past participle of succedere, meaning “to go after, follow, or succeed.” That Latin verb combines sub-, meaning “under” or “after,” with cedere, “to go or yield.” Related English words include succession and consecutive, both of which continue the idea of following or coming after.
Related word forms
How successfulness is actually used
Successfulness is relatively uncommon and has a formal or analytical tone. In most everyday contexts, success or the adjective successful is more natural.
Easily confused with successfulness
Success refers to a favorable result or accomplishment, whereas successfulness refers to the quality or state of being successful.