affluent

American  

[af-loo-uhnt, uh-floo-] / ˈæf lu ənt, əˈflu- /

adjective

1. having an abundance of wealth, property, or other material goods; prosperous; rich.

   an affluent person.

2. abounding in anything; abundant.

   Synonyms:

   teeming

3. flowing freely.

   an affluent fountain.

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noun

affluents plural

1. a tributary stream.

2. an affluent person.

   a luxurious resort appealing to young affluents.

affluent British  

/ ˈæflʊənt /

adjective

1. rich; wealthy

2. abundant; copious

3. flowing freely

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noun

1. archaic a tributary stream

Synonym Usage

See rich.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonaffluent
  adjective
• subaffluent
  adjective
• superaffluent
  adjective
• unaffluent
  adjective
• affluently
  adverb
• subaffluently
  adverb
• superaffluently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• affluents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of affluent

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin affluent- (stem of affluēns “rich”; originally present participle of affluere ), equivalent to af- af- + flu- “flow” + -ent -ent

Explanation

You know you're driving through an affluent neighborhood when you see large houses, perfect landscaping, and expensive cars. Use affluent to describe wealthy people or areas. In Middle English, affluent meant "abundant, flowing," from Old French, from Latin affluēns, from affluere "to abound in," from the prefix ad- "to, at" plus fluere "to flow." The meaning of "abundant, flowing" is still seen in phrases such as "affluent prose." But mostly, when you use the word affluent, the thing understood to be flowing is cash.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

affluent affluents

Social Security was created to protect older Americans from poverty, yet its success has meant that millions of affluent retirees now receive benefits they may not need.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

So when the 25-year-old saw that a local developer planned to build around 800 units of housing above her local Safeway in the affluent Marina District, she was thrilled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

From the shelves of bougie Los Angeles grocer Erewhon to private events at clubs like Casa Cipriani, Loonen water has become the chosen hydration of the chic, affluent and health-conscious.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

With summer in full swing, affluent buyers with cash to burn may be eyeing second homes.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

The London dialect became the standard of education, government, and business, and it was also the dialect of better-educated and more affluent speakers throughout the Anglosphere.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

This “we are like you, but slightly better” model has many less-affluent Millennials wishing for earlier times when affluents entirely segregated themselves rather than show them what they are missing out on.

From Forbes ● Oct. 2, 2012

Here the affluents of the Novarro River are drawn together like threads of lace; and the first trout stream leaps and eddies in the deep defiles on its way to the ocean.

From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by Bartlett, William Chauncey

Then they shed their moisture on its eastern slopes, which give birth to the multitudinous upper waters of the Orinoco, the Amazon and the western affluents of the River Plate.

From South America and the War by Kirkpatrick, F. A. (Frederick Alexander)

Its principal affluents are the Idria, the Wippach and the Torre with its tributary the Judrio, which forms for a short distance the boundary between Austria and Italy.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

Into Tanganyika flows the Malagarasi, a considerable river with many affluents, draining the west-central part of the plateau.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 7 "Geoponici" to "Germany" by Various

Related Words

• moneyed
• prosperous
• rich
• upscale
• well-off
• well-to-do