Victorious

How to spell victorious

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce victorious

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does victorious mean?

1. adjectiveHaving won a contest, battle, or competition.

Victorious in a sentence

• The victorious team carried the trophy around the stadium.

• She felt victorious after closing the difficult deal at work.

Where does victorious come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin victoriosus, meaning 'full of victory' or 'triumphant', which was built on victoria, the noun for 'victory'. That noun in turn came from victor, 'a conqueror', formed on the verb vincere, meaning literally 'to conquer' or 'to overcome'. English took the word in through Old French victorios during the late Middle Ages, and by the 1400s it was settled in its modern shape. The same vincere root still surfaces in everyday relatives such as 'convince' (to overcome someone's doubt) and 'invincible' (unable to be conquered). For the speller, it helps to remember the buried 'victor' inside the word, with the smooth Latin ending '-ious' rather than the plainer '-us', which is where the slip most often happens.

How the word is built

• victor- (winner, from Latin vincere: to conquer)
• -ious (adjective suffix: full of)