noun · academic
breakthrough
/ˈbreɪkθruː/BREAK·through
an important development or discovery that solves a major problem or leads to progress
Examples
“The team announced a breakthrough in battery technology.”
“A breakthrough treatment dramatically improved patients' survival rates.”
“Securing funding allowed researchers to achieve a major breakthrough.”
Band 8 sentence
“After years of incremental work, the research team finally achieved a breakthrough that could transform clinical practice.”
Collocations
- major breakthrough
- scientific breakthrough
Word family
Common mistakes
There were many breakthrough in medicine last year.→There were many breakthroughs in medicine last year.
A big breakthrough has happened in this study.→A major breakthrough has happened in this study.
Say it for a higher band
5improvement→6advance→7+breakthrough
Synonyms
advance
Easily confused
advance
“The discovery led to a significant advance in our understanding of the disease.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Science & Research
Learn it with its set