driven

driven — adjective

1. having an extremely strong desire to succeed, which causes you to work much hard

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

having an extremely strong desire to succeed, which causes you to work much harder than most people and focus all your energy on your goals

Example

Liam is a driven young man who started his own business at twenty.

describes a person's determined character

The team's driven attitude carried them through months of difficult training.

collocation: driven attitude / driven personality

Common collocations
  • highly driven
  • very driven
  • driven person
  • driven individual
  • driven attitude
  • driven personality
  • driven to succeed
Synonyms
  • determined

    more general; driven suggests a stronger, almost compulsive level of determination

  • motivated

    softer than driven; can describe someone who has a reason to act but may not push as hard

  • ambitious

    focuses on wanting success or high status; driven emphasises the effort and intensity more than the desire for status

  • hard-working

    describes effort only; driven also includes the inner force and single-minded focus

Antonyms
  • lazy

    someone who avoids effort or work

  • unmotivated

    lacking the drive or reason to work towards a goal

Grammar Patterns

driven + noun

be/become + driven

Usage Note

Often used before a noun ('a driven person') or after 'be'/'become'. The word can imply a positive quality (ambition) but also suggests an intensity that may come at a personal cost — a driven person rarely rests.

Common Mistakes

She is very drive to succeed.
She is very driven to succeed.
'driven' is the adjective form, not 'drive'.
He is a very driving person.
He is a very driven person.
'driving' as an adjective means 'forceful in action' in different contexts (e.g. 'driving rain'), not 'highly motivated'.
I am driven person.
I am a driven person.
You need the article 'a' before countable nouns.
Idioms

as clean, pure, etc. as the driven snow

idiom

This phrase means that something or someone is completely clean or innocent.

After the rain, the white dress looked as clean as the driven snow.

Maya's reputation was as pure as the driven snow until the rumor started.

driven — suffix

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe someone who pursues goals, but they differ in intensity and focus. 'Determined' is the broadest — it means firmly deciding to achieve something despite difficulty ('She was determined to finish the race despite her injury'). 'Motivated' focuses on having a clear reason or incentive to act ('The team was motivated by the promise of a bonus'). 'Ambitious' emphasises the desire for high status, wealth, or achievement ('He had ambitious plans to become CEO before forty'). 'Hard-working' simply describes putting in a lot of effort ('The hard-working students stayed after class every day'). 'Driven' sits at the strongest end of this spectrum: it implies an internal, almost relentless force that pushes someone to work tirelessly, often at the expense of rest or balance. A driven person does not need external rewards — the push comes from within. For example: 'Kwame was not just hard-working; he was truly driven — he could not switch off even on holiday.'

determined ↗motivated ↗ambitious ↗hard-working ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • driven person
  • driven individual
  • driven attitude
  • driven personality
  • driven entrepreneur
  • driven professional

Adverbs

  • highly driven
  • very driven
  • extremely driven

Phrases

  • driven to succeed
  • driven to achieve

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

'Driven' is the past participle of the Old English verb 'drīfan', meaning 'to push forward, urge onward, force into motion'. The adjective sense ('highly motivated, very determined') developed in the early 20th century from the idea of being pushed forward by a powerful inner force — as if a person is 'driven' by an engine inside them. The suffix use ('steam-driven', 'market-driven') follows the same logic: something external provides the force that makes a machine move or a decision happen.