plentiful
Americanadjective
-
ample; abundant
-
having or yielding an abundance
a plentiful year
Related Words
Plentiful, ample, abundant, bountiful describe a more than adequate supply of something. Plentiful suggests an over-adequate quantity: a plentiful supply. Ample suggests a more than adequate quality as well: to give ample praise. Abundant implies a greater degree of plenty, and bountiful a still more ample quality as well: an abundant, even a bountiful, harvest.
Other Word Forms
- overplentiful adjective
- overplentifully adverb
- overplentifulness noun
- plentifully adverb
- plentifulness noun
- quasi-plentiful adjective
- quasi-plentifully adverb
- unplentiful adjective
- unplentifully adverb
Etymology
Origin of plentiful
A late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at plenty, -ful
Explanation
If something is plentiful, there is a lot of it. Also, plentiful things yield large amounts of something, like an abundant farm. Apples are plentiful in a plentiful year on an apple farm. Plentiful is an adjective to describe “many” or “a lot.” It’s plenty for “very much” and -ful for “full of” so plentiful is full of very much! It’s a word for “large amounts.” If you have plenty of potato chips, you have a plentiful supply of chips. Also, something that has or produces great amounts can be called plentiful. A tree that spawns many apples is plentiful.
Vocabulary lists containing plentiful
Much Ado: Synonyms for "Many"
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Obama's State of the Union Address, 2014
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Z for Zachariah
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is a very steep rise in the A-D Line, which conveys the statement that liquidity is plentiful.
From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026
It’s no accident that water, once plentiful in California, became rare.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
As a result, the Fed effectively sets a floor under short-term interest rates by paying banks interest on the reserves they park at the central bank, a system that works best when reserves are plentiful.
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
These actions have brought San Diego County plentiful water — also some of the most expensive in the state.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026
Flowers were plentiful that spring because of the winter’s heavy rains.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
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.
