triumph

Pluraltriumphs

Formstriumphs, triumphing, triumphed

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A conclusive success achieved after effort, conflict, or the overcoming of obstacles; a victory or conquest.

   The signing of the treaty was hailed as a triumph of patient diplomacy.

   The expedition's safe return ranked among the great triumphs of polar exploration.

   Similarvictory, success, achievement, conquest, win

   Oppositedefeat, failure

   Note

   The everyday sense grew out of a ceremony: Latin triumphus meant a triumphal procession, and the word reached Middle English through Old French triumphe. It can be countable or uncountable. You can win a triumph of patient diplomacy, or you can simply taste triumph. The pattern triumph of + noun names what won out, as in the triumph of knowledge. The 'masterpiece' meaning borrows the same construction.

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To win against rivals or get the better of challenges and difficulties.

   Underdogs rarely triumph against such well-funded opponents.

   Despite a slow start, the campaign triumphed at the polls.

   Similarprevail, win, succeed

   Oppositelose, fail

3. 3
   noununcountable

   A feeling or state of exultant joy at a success or victory.

   She held up the acceptance letter with a shout of triumph.

   His eyes gleamed with triumph as the final votes were counted.

   Similarjubilation, elation, exultation, joy, glee

   Oppositedespair, dejection

   Note

   Here the word names a feeling rather than an outcome. Its fixed phrase is in triumph. Dryden's Virgil of 1697 has Hercules "arrived in triumph", and there joy and victory travel together. Milton pairs it with rejoicing in Paradise Lost (1667). Treat it like joy: a shout of triumph, eyes gleaming with triumph.

4. 4
   verbintransitive

   To succeed, win, or attain a position of ascendancy.

   New technologies triumph when they solve real problems cheaply.

   After years of debate, the reform movement finally triumphed.

   Similarsucceed, win, prevail

   Oppositefail, lose

   Note

   Here the verb stands alone, with no rival and no over, just success. Macaulay writes in 1856 that "genius triumphed". David Thomson in The Guardian (2016) says a host "triumphed on every count". Use this pattern when the struggle is implied rather than named. Once an opponent is mentioned, you have moved into the 'prevail' meaning.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A work of art, cooking, or other craft executed to an exceptionally high standard.

   Her debut novel is a triumph, blending humor with real emotional depth.

   The restored cathedral ceiling remains a triumph of Renaissance craftsmanship.

   Similarmasterpiece, masterwork, success, gem

   Oppositeflop, failure, disaster

   Note

   This is praise for a made thing rather than a won contest: a film, a novel, a wedding cake. It usually stands as a verdict after is, as in "Scorsese's latest film is a triumph". It also appears in a triumph of + a craft or period. Unlike the victory sense, nothing has been defeated. The only struggle implied is with the material, and the word works as a reviewer's highest mark.

6. 6
   verbintransitive

   To celebrate a victory with display and rejoicing; to exult openly in a success or advantage gained.

   It is unkind to triumph over a defeated rival.

   The victors triumphed for days, parading banners through every street.

   Similarexult, gloat, rejoice, crow, celebrate

   Note

   The verb of gloating and public celebration comes from Latin triumphō. Its preposition is over, or upon in older English, as in Shakespeare's "triumph thus upon my misery". The King James Bible of 1611 uses it with no preposition at all: "How long shall the wicked triumph?" To triumph over a rival here means to exult at their fall, not to defeat them. Defeating them is the 'prevail' meaning, and context decides which is meant.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A magnificent and imposing public ceremony staged in honor of a victor.

   The king ordered a triumph to mark the conquest, complete with processions and feasts.

   Captured banners were carried through the capital during the admiral's triumph.

   Similarcelebration, pageant, parade

8. 8
   nounhistoricalcountable

   A public ceremony in which a victorious army commander's achievement was formally celebrated and given religious sanction, especially in ancient Rome.

   The senate voted Caesar a triumph after his campaigns in Gaul.

   During his triumph, the commander rode in a chariot while his troops marched behind.

   Note

   This sense belongs to Roman history and is used when writing about the ancient rite itself. The senate voted the honor to a victorious commander. He then rode in procession with his troops, captives and spoils to the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline, in a ceremony that was religious as well as festive. For victory celebrations outside Rome, the general ceremonial sense fits better. Behind the Latin stands Greek thriambos, which also gives the doublet thriambus.

9. 9
   verbintransitive

   To be in a flourishing or prosperous condition; to thrive.

   Few businesses triumph for long without adapting to their customers.

   Trade triumphed in the port cities during the long peace.

   Similarthrive, flourish, prosper, boom

   Oppositedecline, languish

   Note

   Here nothing is beaten; the subject simply thrives. John Trumbull's An Elegy on the Times (1774) has "commerce triumphed on the favouring gales". The subject is an enterprise rather than a contestant. The sense sits beside flourish, and a reader can easily mistake it for winning. In this use the word means doing well, with no rival in view.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A card trick in which the deck is shuffled with half the cards face-up and half face-down, then spread to show every card facing the same way except the spectator's chosen card.

    The street performer closed his set with a flawless triumph.

    After a hopeless-looking mix of face-up and face-down cards, the triumph ended with only the ace of spades showing.

11. 11
    noununcountable

    A card game, also known as trump, in which one suit outranks the others.

    After supper the household gathered for a few hands of triumph.

    He lost a week's wages at triumph in the tavern.

    Similartrump

12. 12
    verbintransitive

    In card games, to play a card of the trump suit, which outranks the other suits.

    Careless players triumph too early and waste their strongest cards.

    Holding nothing in the led suit, he triumphed and took the trick.

    Similartrump, ruff

    Note

    This is the verb that goes with the obsolete trump card, meaning what trump means as a verb today. Ben Jonson's The Fortunate Isles and Their Union (1625) speaks of "the kings and the queens that triumph in the cards". The line plays on court cards that outrank others and on royalty that prevails. Treat it as a word you will meet in reading; at the card table, say trump.

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