Word.ws English Dictionary

make one's mark

make one's mark verb: to make, or leave, a lasting impression, especially to achieve prominent success.

Verb

make one's mark (third-person singular simple present makes one's mark, present participle making one's mark, simple past and past participle made one's mark)

  1. (idiomatic) To make, or leave, a lasting impression, especially to achieve prominent success.
    • Terry, almost inevitably, made his mark on the game when he headed Chelsea back in front seconds before the interval, sending a scrambled finish past Szczesny from Lampard's corner.2011 October 29, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3 - 5 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport
  2. To sign (a document) by making a cross or other mark.

Synonyms of make one's mark

Forms of make one's mark

third-person singular presentmakes one's mark
present participlemaking one's mark
past participlemade one's mark
pastmade one's mark
alternative formmake a mark

Questions about make one's mark

What does make one's mark mean?
Make one's mark means to make, or leave, a lasting impression, especially to achieve prominent success.
What part of speech is make one's mark?
Make one's mark is a verb.
What is the past tense of make one's mark?
The past tense of make one's mark is made one's mark.

Words near make one's mark in the dictionary

  1. make one's bow
  2. make one's entrance
  3. make one's exit
  4. make one's hand
  5. make one's manners
  6. make one's mark
  7. make one's number
  8. make one's own
  9. make one's own luck
  10. make one's presence felt
  11. make one's toilet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: make one's mark (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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