adjective
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bearing fruit in abundance
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productive or prolific, esp in bearing offspring
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causing or assisting prolific growth
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producing results or profits
a fruitful discussion
Related Words
See productive.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fruitful
Explanation
When something is fruitful, it's productive — but you don't have to produce fruit in order to be fruitful. You could have a fruitful trip to the mall if you come home with a slew of snappy new outfits. There's a famous line from the Bible: "Be fruitful and multiply." That gives you a pretty good sense of the word: fruitful activity multiplies or adds to what's already there, producing more of something. A couple is fruitful if they have children: the more children, the more fruitful. An artist is fruitful if they create a lot of artwork. A business is fruitful if it creates profits and expands. Anything fruitful is productive: it grows and produces, much like a fruit tree.
Vocabulary lists containing fruitful
Power Suffix: -ful
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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.
"Fruitful collaboration with Toda's lab enabled us to make sense of that chaos during brain mapping."
From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2024
He is director of the labour company Fruitful Jobs, one of four firms licensed to recruit seasonal workers overseas.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2022
The confetti comes from the organic, vegan Fruitful O’s mixed in the batter.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 10, 2020
Non-Grapefruit and Fruitful Non-Science Jag Bhalla is an entrepreneur and writer.
From Scientific American • Sep. 16, 2013
“Oh, you must mean Minli! That’s when this used to be called the Village of Fruitless Mountain. Now it’s called the Village of Fruitful Mountain.”
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
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.
