affluent

American  

[af-loo-uhnt, uh-floo-] / ˈæf lu ənt, əˈflu- /

adjective

1. having an abundance of wealth, property, or other material goods; prosperous; rich.

   an affluent person.

2. abounding in anything; abundant.

   Synonyms:

   teeming

3. flowing freely.

   an affluent fountain.

---

noun

affluents plural

1. a tributary stream.

2. an affluent person.

   a luxurious resort appealing to young affluents.

affluent British  

/ ˈæflʊənt /

adjective

1. rich; wealthy

2. abundant; copious

3. flowing freely

---

noun

1. archaic a tributary stream

Synonym Usage

See rich.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonaffluent
  adjective
• subaffluent
  adjective
• superaffluent
  adjective
• unaffluent
  adjective
• affluently
  adverb
• subaffluently
  adverb
• superaffluently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• affluents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of affluent

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin affluent- (stem of affluēns “rich”; originally present participle of affluere ), equivalent to af- af- + flu- “flow” + -ent -ent

Explanation

You know you're driving through an affluent neighborhood when you see large houses, perfect landscaping, and expensive cars. Use affluent to describe wealthy people or areas. In Middle English, affluent meant "abundant, flowing," from Old French, from Latin affluēns, from affluere "to abound in," from the prefix ad- "to, at" plus fluere "to flow." The meaning of "abundant, flowing" is still seen in phrases such as "affluent prose." But mostly, when you use the word affluent, the thing understood to be flowing is cash.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

affluent affluents

In fact, many affluent retirees with very large traditional IRAs intentionally accelerate withdrawals or Roth conversions for that reason.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

BURLINGTON, Conn.—Edward Marchion took a chance when he bought a four-bedroom house in this affluent suburb without ever stepping foot inside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

“Sag Harbor,” set in the mostly Black, affluent beach community in the Hamptons, is the closest Whitehead has come to writing a coming-of-age story.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Young women in more affluent cities remain the app's core user base, according to Qiangua.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

Today’s affluent societies are in the throes of a plague of obesity, which is rapidly spreading to developing countries.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

This “we are like you, but slightly better” model has many less-affluent Millennials wishing for earlier times when affluents entirely segregated themselves rather than show them what they are missing out on.

From Forbes ● Oct. 2, 2012

This river is 429 m. long and receives many affluents from the mountainous region through which it passes, but its course is very precipitous and its mouth obstructed by sand bars.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various

The road, after leaving the mountains, has very few affluents, the only constructed bridges for the distance being one over the Loup Fork and the North Platte.

From Monopolies and the People by Cloud, D. C.

It is computed by good authority that this river, with its numerous affluents, forms a system of navigable water twenty-four thousand miles in length!

From Equatorial America Descriptive of a Visit to St. Thomas, Martinique, Barbadoes, and the Principal Capitals of South America by Ballou, Maturin Murray

Hence we can expect no such vast extent of navigable water on them as the Mississippi and its affluents offer.

From The Columbia River Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce by Lyman, William Denison

Related Words

• moneyed
• prosperous
• rich
• upscale
• well-off
• well-to-do