having great wealth; rich; affluent.
a wealthy person; a wealthy nation.
characterized by, pertaining to, or suggestive of wealth.
a wealthy appearance.
rich in character, quality, or amount; abundant or ample.
a novel that is wealthy in its psychological insights.
possessing wealth; affluent; rich
of, characterized by, or relating to wealth
abounding
wealthy in friends
See rich.
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English; wealth + -y 1
Origin uncertain
If you have riches you are wealthy. Don't be misled into thinking "riches" means only money — to many people, to have a healthy family and to be surrounded by love is to be abundantly wealthy. The Old English word wela, via the Middle English welth, meaning "happiness and prosperity in abundance," is the source of our noun wealth. Although the Middle English wele meant "well-being," the word referred primarily to money and possessions. Many people still feel that way, but Henry David Thoreau offered a different view: "Wealth is the ability to fully experience life." That is, true wealth is having whatever means the most to you.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Not Nantucket or Cape Cod, but the summertime refuge for Manhattan’s wealthy.
From Salon • Jun. 18, 2026
Cuts in development aid by wealthy countries tend to drive up displacement away from the world's poorest regions, the head of the UN's International Organization for Migration warned in an interview with AFP on Thursday.
From Barron's • Jun. 18, 2026
Blankfein said that because of his childhood — he grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn — he found it difficult for a long time to think of himself as wealthy, despite his fortune.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 17, 2026
The jury noted that it is often a wealthy benefactor or nonprofit that generates that money, and for years the Los Angeles Zoo believed it had that in GLAZA.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
An extraordinarily wealthy man with a passion for chess, he wanted to pay Bobby some of the royalties that were due him.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
