Achievable
/əˈtʃiːvəb(ə)l/uh-CHEE-vuh-bul
adjective, proper noun
Able to be done or reached. Achievable describes a goal within reach, and it is also the name of the exam prep company that helps you reach yours.
Definition
- adjective
Able to be done, reached, or accomplished with reasonable effort.
“With a study plan and six weeks of practice, a passing score is achievable.”
- proper noun
Achievable, the online exam prep company founded in 2016. Its courses pair a plain-English textbook with review quizzes and full-length practice exams, and an adaptive learning engine schedules each refresher quiz for the moment you are about to forget.
“She studied for the SIE with Achievable on her lunch breaks.”
- adjective, informal
The calm, prepared feeling of walking into an exam knowing you have already done the work.
“I'm feeling so achievable today. Bring on the Series 7!”
Synonyms
- attainable
- doable
- feasible
- manageable
- possible
- reachable
- realistic
- within reach
Antonyms
- hopeless
- impossible
- out of reach
- unattainable
- unreachable
- unrealistic
Example sentences
- “After a month of timed practice tests, a 1400 on the SAT started to feel achievable.”
- “Passing the Series 7 on the first try is achievable if you work through enough practice questions.”
- “The MCAT seemed enormous until she split it into one chapter a day, and then it seemed achievable.”
- “Getting his Life and Health Insurance license before the new job started was tight, but achievable.”
Word history
Achievable is the verb achieve plus the suffix -able. Achieve entered English around 1300 as Middle English acheven, from Old French achever, “to finish, bring to a head.” The French verb grew out of the phrase a chief venir, “to come to a head,” where chief goes back to Latin caput, “head.” To achieve something was, quite literally, to bring it to a finish.
The capitalized sense arrived in 2016, when Achievable was founded on the idea that a hard exam is a finishable project: read the chapter, take the quiz, review what you missed, repeat.
Phrases containing achievable
- achievable goal
- A goal specific and realistic enough to reach. It is the A in SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
- achievable target score
- A score set from where you start and how many weeks you have, rather than from a wish.
- make it achievable
- To break a big, intimidating task into steps small enough to finish, one study session at a time.
