How to say “success” in 37 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- éxito/ˈeɡsito/ Spanish
- نجاح/na.d͡ʒaːħ/ Arabic
- 성공[sʰʌ̹ŋɡo̞ŋ] Korean
- सफलता/sə.pʰəl.t̪ɑː/ Hindi
- επιτυχία/e.pi.tiˈçi.a/ Greek
- הצלחה/hat͡slaˈχa/ Hebrew
“success” in Spanish: éxito · French: succès · German: erfolg · Portuguese: sucesso · Korean: 성공 · Arabic: نجاح · Hindi: सफलता · Turkish: başarı
It is commonest in Tamil, where வெற்றி is the 197th most used word.
Success in other languages, A to Z
- Arabic نجاح/na.d͡ʒaːħ/ success, good outcome #1,334
- Armenian հաջողություն/hɑd͡ʒoʁuˈtʰjun/ #278
- Basque arrakasta/aˈrakas̺ˌta/ #507
- Bulgarian успех[oˈspɛx] #812
- Catalan èxit[ˈɛɡ.zit] #1,077
- Chinese 成功/ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ kʊŋ⁵⁵/ to succeed; to achieve success; to be… #133
- Croatian uspjeh/ǔspjex/ #2,118
- Czech úspěch[ˈuːspjɛx] #1,933
- Danish succes/sykse/ #1,582
- Dutch succes/sykˈsɛs/ #791
- English best/bɛst/ To the most advantage; with the most success,… #256
- Esperanto sukceson/suktˈseson/ #2,278
- Estonian edu/ˈed̥u/ #769
- French succès/syk.sɛ/ #1,639
- Georgian წარმატებები[t͡sʼäɾmätʼe̞be̞bi] #1,330
- German erfolg/ɛɐ̯ˈfɔlk/ #1,419
- Greek επιτυχία/e.pi.tiˈçi.a/ #1,374
- Hebrew הצלחה/hat͡slaˈχa/ a success #1,693
- Hindi सफलता/sə.pʰəl.t̪ɑː/ success, fortune, prosperity #1,531
- Hungarian sikert[ˈʃikɛrt] #2,338
- Icelandic gengi[ˈceiɲcɪ] success, prosperity #1,308
- Korean 성공[sʰʌ̹ŋɡo̞ŋ] #1,421
- Lithuanian sėkmė[sʲeː²ˈkmʲeː] #1,412
- Macedonian успех[ˈuspɛx] success, progress #1,646
- Malay kejayaan/kəd͡ʒaˈjaan/ #1,275
- Malayalam നേട്ടം/n̪eːʈʈɐm/ achievement, profit, success #1,344
- Norwegian lykkes/ˈlʏkəs/ to prove a success, succeed #1,804
- Persian موفقیت[mo.væf.fæ.ʁi.jǽt̪ʰ] #2,136
- Portuguese sucesso/suˈsɛ.su/ success; triumph #1,360
- Romanian succes/suktˈʃes/ #964
- Serbian uspeh/ǔspex/ #2,133
- Slovak úspech/uːspex/ #1,005
- Slovenian uspeh/uspɛ́x/ #865
- Spanish éxito/ˈeɡsito/ #1,114
- Tamil வெற்றி/ʋɛrːiː/ success, conquest, triumph, victory #197
- Turkish başarı/ba.ʃaˈɾɯ/ #2,296
- Urdu کامیابی/kɑːm.jɑː.biː/ success, achievement #658
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.