driven
Americanverb
adjective
-
being under compulsion, as to succeed or excel.
a driven young man who was fiercely competitive.
-
controlled or propelled by something specified (used in combination).
a market-driven approach to retaining talent; data-driven business strategies; a water pump that is solar driven.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of driven
First recorded in 1300–50, for the adjective for an earlier sense
Explanation
If you're driven, you're strongly compelled or motivated to achieve a goal. If you're a driven gymnast, you spend hours in the gym each night perfecting your balance beam routine. If you know someone who is incredibly ambitious and hard working, you can call them driven. It takes a driven student to make it through medical school, and a driven dog musher to complete the Iditarod. In other words, you need drive, or determination, to achieve these things. Driven can also mean "moved and piled into drifts by wind," often in the phrase "driven snow." When combined with another noun, it can mean "propelled or powered," as in "a wind-driven boat."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The good news, according to Forbes, is that a plunge in stocks driven, for example, by disappointment in AI would effectively write down the IOUs the U.S. issued to foreigners to finance its deficits.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
But she warned Friday's rally was "being driven as much by hype and scarcity as fundamentals".
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
‘The spending that hurts people isn’t the big intentional splurge. It’s spending driven by FOMO.’
From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026
"We find that to some extent, Alzheimer's disease is a little like cancer -- driven by the same mutations that drive blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia," said Walsh.
From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026
By the end of January 1945, the Americans had driven the Germans back to their own border.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
