myriad
Americannoun
-
a very great or indefinitely great number of persons or things.
-
ten thousand.
adjective
noun
-
(also used in plural) a large indefinite number
-
archaic ten thousand
Other Word Forms
- myriadly adverb
Etymology
Origin of myriad
First recorded in 1545–55; from Greek mȳriad-, stem of mȳriás “ten thousand,” from mȳríos “countless”
Explanation
A myriad is a lot of something. If you’re talking about Ancient Greece, a myriad is ten thousand, but today you can use the word in myriad other ways. Myriad comes from the Greek myrioi, the word for ten thousand, or less specifically, a countless amount. Myriad can be a noun, like a myriad of choices, or an adjective, like when you study myriad subjects in college. If you lift a rock you might find a myriad of bugs. Sticklers often look down their noses at using myriad as a noun, but that usage came first.
Vocabulary lists containing myriad
Lord of the Flies
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Grade 10, List 2
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The Old Man and the Sea
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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.
Explanations for the sell-off in bitcoin are myriad.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026
The law states that internet platforms “offer a forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique opportunities for cultural development, and myriad avenues for intellectual activity.”
From Salon • Apr. 16, 2026
The other parallel is that private-credit investments now, and myriad mortgage instruments then, both promised high returns with minimal risk.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
The rest of “Two Prosecutors” will concern the myriad forces conspiring to thwart his efforts.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
But for countless generations they did not stand out from the myriad other organisms with which they shared their habitats.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
