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breakthrough

breakthrough

242 3.9
A sudden important discovery or advance that solves a big problem
  • noun
  • /ˈbreɪkˌθru/
translation icon : avance
  • But there's been a breakthrough in home-video marketing.
  • a major breakthrough
  • a significant breakthrough
  • a technological breakthrough

Others will end up buying those breakthroughs and importing them.

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Examples

  • We're about to make a major breakthrough.

  • One minute, policymakers achieve a "historic breakthrough" in solving the problem.

    Academic text (2011)
  • This was our first major breakthrough from our new data.

  • It's a breakthrough, a real breakthrough.

  • Whenever there was a cancer breakthrough, she would say, "We know who to thank for that."

    Fiction book (1994)
  • I had one breakthrough that was enormous.

  • Important breakthroughs follow, but there is still much work to be done.

  • Proposals to regulate or prohibit scientific research following a new breakthrough occur with substantial frequency.

    Academic text (2017)
  • The researchers achieved a significant breakthrough in cancer treatment, leading to new hope for patients.

  • Her innovative approach resulted in a breakthrough that solved the longstanding issue in renewable energy.

Synonyms

discovery
vsbreakthrough
331 1.0

Finding or learning something new that was not known before

is a sudden advance that specifically overcomes a problem or barrier
milestone
vsbreakthrough
103 3.2

An important event that shows progress in a person's life or project

is a sudden advance that overcomes a barrier rather than a marker
big break
vsbreakthrough
  • Informal
38 3.2

An important chance that helps a person become successful in their career

is an advance that overcomes a barrier or solves a pressing problem
quantum leap
vsbreakthrough
8 5.5

A sudden big change that makes something much better

is sudden and important but may be less extremely large in scale
significant inroad
vsbreakthrough
1 6.1

A big step forward in one area of work or study

is a sudden advance that overcomes a barrier rather than slow progress

How Significant

revolution
810 4.1
breakthrough
242 3.9
to advance
417 3.4
development
357 2.5
finding
330 3.4

Surface Forms

breakthrough singular
breakthroughs plural

Morphology

breakthrough = break (transparent) = through + break

The noun denotes the result of 'breaking through' a barrier, a meaning directly and predictably derived from 'break' + 'through'. [Postprocessing: moved 'through' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Breakthrough is made of break and through, so imagine breaking a wall to go 'through' a barrier. That's why a breakthrough is a sudden, important success or discovery that gets past a big problem.