adj. 1
Resulting in success; assuring or promoting success; accomplishing what was proposed; having the desired effect.
a successful use of medicine; a successful experiment; a successful enterprise

Choose the right word

or Successful?

A man is fortunate, when he is favored of fortune, and has unusual blessings fall to his lot; successful when he gains what he aims at; prosperous when he succeeds in those things which men commonly desire.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Example sentences

profitable What you've done is profitable only to the enemy.
thriving Yanni's thriving career was ripped from under him.
prosperous Algeria is a prosperous country full of potential.
fruitful Their year-long stay in Germany was very fruitful.
accomplished Imagine yourself having already accomplished that.
rewarding The mountain trails were challenging but rewarding.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
successful		steady
profitable		falling
thriving		rising
prosperous		steady
fruitful		falling
accomplished		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: hot¹
5 letters: lucky²
7 letters: winning², booming², buoyant²
8 letters: thriving², fruitful²
9 letters: effective³, fortunate³, rewarding³
10 letters: profitable⁴, prosperous³, victorious⁴, triumphant³, performant, preformant
11 letters: flourishing³, efficacious⁴
12 letters: accomplished³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (lucky² = 2 syllables).