- present participle of thrive.
thriving
Americanadjective
-
prospering or doing well; highly successful.
The Arts Commission plans to expand its thriving ArtSmart program into all 21 of the city’s elementary schools.
-
growing or developing vigorously; flourishing.
When I worked on her farm ten years ago there was still a thriving goat herd, but she’s been unable to keep it up on her own.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of thriving
Explanation
Something that's thriving is doing very well. You have a thriving cupcake business if you can hardly bake enough to keep up with your customers' orders. Use the adjective thriving to describe something that's healthy — like your new puppy — or profitable and busy — like your dad's car dealership. A thriving Mexican food truck always has a long line in front of it, and a thriving publisher puts out many popular books. Thriving comes from the verb thrive, and its Old Norse root word, þrifask, which means both "thrive" and "grasp to oneself," from þrifa, "to clutch or grasp."
Vocabulary lists containing thriving
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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State of the Union Address 2016
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Ethan Frome
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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.
Like so many waves of refugees before and after, these are people who took huge risks to survive, and many of them, like Omar, are thriving.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
By the time the night was over, and Dailor was alone out front saying his goodbyes and tossing drumsticks into the crowd, Mastodon showed it was still surviving and thriving.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
After centuries thriving in the Po basin, producers are now trying dry-seeding, which works without continuous flooding.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Abstract claims that the American dream is still thriving mean little to young people who are postponing homeownership and feel that financial security is slipping out of reach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Her father, Matthäus Merian the Elder, ran a thriving Frankfurt publishing shop, staffed by Maria’s older half brothers and sisters from an earlier marriage.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
