successfully

UK/səkˈsɛs.fə.li/US/səkˈsɛs.fə.li/

adverbB1+Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,281 of 15,258mostly written

Successfully means in a way that achieved what was wanted. Successfully completed, successfully argued, treated successfully.

It reports the outcome and not the manner, which is why it goes with verbs of achieving. In official writing it does a lot of quiet work: successfully completed says the thing was finished and not that it was done well.

Definitions of successfully

1adverbsuccessfullyIn a way that achieved what was wanted.B1+
“The surgeons successfully removed the tumour, and she is recovering well.”

successfully is a manner.

Where it comes from

From successful + -ly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

successfully in the wild

On February 18, 2021, Perseverance, the newest American Mars rover, successfully landed, and remains active as of August 11, 2026.
Mars rover
On May 14, 2021, China's Zhurong became the first non-American rover to successfully operate on Mars.
Mars rover
The Office of the President and Vice President and department/service headquarters badges are permanent decorations for those who successfully serve in those assignments.
Identification badges of the uniformed services of the United States
As of 2023, the Soviet Union, United States, and China have conducted Mars landings successfully.
Mars landing
NASA's Mars Pathfinder, launched in 1996, successfully delivered the first Mars rover, Sojourner.
Mars landing

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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