Break through or breakthrough?
break through is a verb meaning “To gain popularity”; breakthrough is an adjective meaning “Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle”. Use break through as a verb and breakthrough as an adjective. break through is written as two words and breakthrough as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between break through and breakthrough?
| break through | breakthrough | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb | adjective, noun |
| Meaning | To gain popularity To penetrate the defence of the opposition | Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle Involving the contraction of a disease by a person with a decreased susceptibility, such as a person who has been vaccinated to help prevent that disease An advance through and past enemy lines |
| Example | none recorded | a breakthrough technological advance |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/ /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹu/ [ˈbɹeɪk.θɹʉ] |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 6.8 times per million words |
Sources: break through and breakthrough in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of break through and breakthrough
break through
- 1
To gain popularity
- 2
To penetrate the defence of the opposition
- 3
To make or force a way through (a barrier)
- 4
colloquialTo cross a perceptual threshold during the use of certain psychedelics in which one experiences drug-induced reverie or hallucinations
- 5
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see break, through
breakthrough
- 1
Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle
a breakthrough technological advance
- 2
An advance through and past enemy lines
- 3
Involving the contraction of a disease by a person with a decreased susceptibility, such as a person who has been vaccinated to help prevent that disease
- 4
Any major progress; such as a great innovation or discovery that overcomes a significant obstacle
Albert Einstein is credited with making some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern physics
- 5
The penetration of the opposition's defence
- 6
The penetration of a separating wall or the remaining distance to an adjacent hollow (a crosscut in mining) or between two parts of a tunnel build from both ends
- 7
The emergence or one or more symptoms of a condition despite medication or other medical treatment
She was on two antiepileptics for five years but then had a breakthrough seizure
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, break through or breakthrough?
break through is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; breakthrough 6.8 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).