successful

adjective

1)

what can we do to make this campaign successful?

Syn:

victorious, triumphant; fortunate, lucky; effective; informal socko, in like Flynn

2)

a successful designer

Syn:

prosperous, affluent, wealthy, rich; doing well, famous, eminent, top

3)

successful companies

Syn:

flourishing, thriving, booming, buoyant, doing well, profitable, moneymaking, lucrative

••

in like Flynn

This phrase, meaning "assured of success", first became widespread during World War II as an allusion to the actor Errol Flynn's legendary prowess in seducing women. (In 1942, Flynn was prosecuted for the statutory rape of two teenage girls — and was acquitted.) Today the phrase has generally lost any sexual connotation — e.g.: • "By these standards, Gore should be in like Flynn." (Commercial Appeal [Memphis]; Feb. 13, 2000.) • "Based on the results of our Triangle Census, you’ll be in like Flynn." (News & Observer [Raleigh]; Mar. 27, 2000.) • "Follow the formula, and you’re in like Flynn." (BusinessWeek, Aug. 7, 2000.) The phrase has been the subject of wordplay and consequent confusion. In 1966 appeared Our Man Flint, a film starring James Coburn and spoofing the James Bond series; the following year, its sequel, In Like Flint, was released. The popularity of these films — especially the latter with its pun on in like Flynn — sparked lingering confusion about what the proper phrase should be. Thus, during coverage of the 2000 Republican Convention, Mark Shields, a PBS commentator, said that George W. Bush might be "in like Flynn, or in like Flint — whatever we say" (PBS Convention Coverage, Aug. 3, 2000). This confusion had already surfaced in print — e.g.: "Yep, with my peacoat, I was in like Flint [read Flynn], I thought, able to hubbub with the highbrows or hang with the homeboys." (News & Observer [Raleigh]; Jan. 11, 1998) (in this example, hubbub should probably be hobnob). "If you want to be ‘in like Flint [read Flynn],’ there has to be a measure of exclusivity." Larry Lipson, (Daily News [L.A.]; Aug. 27, 1999.) "Finder praises Gawande as a quick learner. If he failed to incorporate advice initially, says Finder, ‘the second time he was in like Flint [read Flynn].’ (Boston Globe, Nov. 10, 1999.) Although this usage occasionally appears in tongue-in-cheek references to Flint, Michigan, and to flint as stone, it shouldn't appear in sentences such as those just quoted. Errol Flynn is reported to have resented the phrase, but it will always be linked etymologically to him. BG