plethora

[ pleth-er-uh ]

noun

1. overabundance; excess:

   His crisis brought him a plethora of advice and an almost complete lack of assistance.

2. a large quantity or wide array; a lot:

   The co-op program offers a plethora of advantages for students.

   Visitors are drawn to the main beach, where a plethora of watersports can be enjoyed.

3. Pathology Archaic. a morbid condition due to excess of red corpuscles in the blood or increase in the quantity of blood.

plethora

/ ˈplɛθərə; plɛˈθɒrɪk /

noun

1. superfluity or excess; overabundance
2. obsolete.
   pathol a condition caused by dilation of superficial blood vessels, characterized esp by a reddish face

Derived Forms

• pleˈthorically, adverb
• plethoric, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of plethora¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from New Latin, from Greek plēthṓra “fullness,” from plḗthein “to fill, be full”; complete ( def ), full ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of plethora¹

C16: via Medieval Latin from Greek plēthōrē fullness, from plēthein to grow full

Example Sentences

As a plethora of potential customers is redirected to your website, you’ll reap the benefits of high traffic for your local business.

From Search Engine Watch

The brothers started the company in a niche digital lending market, but now, the company offers a plethora of services from savings to payments and investments.

From TechCrunch

If you’re looking for a way to feel more centered these days, one of the best things you can do is to take up a mindfulness practice—and there’s a plethora of apps eager to help in exchange for your downloads and dollars.

From Quartz

With a plethora of outdoor adventures to explore and a cozy indoor setting with roaring fires, we feel that we’re well-positioned and prepared to give guests that perfect Midwest getaway.

From Washington Post

It’s also led to a lot of confusion about how and where they can watch TV shows among the plethora of platforms and services.

From Quartz

There should be a plethora of four-letter words flying around the Veep set this morning.

From The Daily Beast

Where there was a plethora of strong women, instead of just, like, Kristen Wiig doing every sketch each week.

From The Daily Beast

Like the best pop stars, Swift has borrowed from a plethora of genres and influences.

From The Daily Beast

Within hours of the pictures ending up online, a plethora of articles were written.

From The Daily Beast

During the mid-to-late 1980s, he went on an absolute tear, helming a plethora of irresistible entertainments.

From The Daily Beast

Tressan was monstrous ill-at-ease, and his face lost a good deal of its habitual plethora of colour.

From Project Gutenberg

The army of Spain would seem to suffer from a plethora of officers, especially those of the highest rank.

From Project Gutenberg

And, even in such a plethora of massacres, it is strange they should have suffered such neglect.

From Project Gutenberg

Justinian, it may be noted, had equipped this army with such a plethora of commanders that their defeat can hardly cause surprise.

From Project Gutenberg

Gold, in the midst of its sudden plethora, was a perplexing problem to the financial prophets of a third of a century ago.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• deluge
• excess
• glut
• overabundance
• plenty
• profusion
• surfeit