An achievement is something you accomplish through effort, skill, or perseverance. When you finish a challenging book, master a difficult piano piece, or finally solve that tricky math problem you've been working on for days, that's an achievement.

The word means successfully completing something that required real work or ability. Tying your shoes was an achievement when you were five, but now it's just routine. An achievement involves reaching a goal that genuinely tested you in some way.

Achievement can be personal or public. Landing a backflip might be a huge achievement for a gymnast, even if no one's watching. Winning a science fair or breaking a school record would be achievements others recognize. Some achievements happen in a moment, like scoring the winning goal, while others unfold over time, like learning a new language or building a treehouse from scratch.

Related words include accomplish (to complete successfully) and attain (to reach). When you work toward something difficult and finally succeed, you've earned that sense of achievement: you proved to yourself that persistence and effort pay off.