affluence

[af-loo-uh ns or, often, uh-floo-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR affluence ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

abundance of money, property, and other material goods; riches; wealth.

an abundant supply, as of thoughts or words; profusion.

a flowing to or toward; afflux.

Origin of affluence

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin affluentia, equivalent to af- af- + flu- flow + -entia -ence

Related formssub·af·flu·ence, nounsu·per·af·flu·ence, noun

Can be confusedaffluence effluence influence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for affluence

abundance, prosperity, fortune, riches, luxury, plenty, opulence, wealthiness

Examples from the Web for affluence

Contemporary Examples of affluence

Jazz is linked in the mind of marketers with affluence, but the economics of jazz have never been worse.
Jazz (The Music of Coffee and Donuts) Has Respect, But It Needs Love
Ted Gioia
June 15, 2014
Why have we conflated "excellence" with affluence, driven parents, and a relentless will to conform on the part of the kids?
The Absurd Lies of College Admissions
Megan McArdle
April 1, 2013
Their affluence and attachment to luxury makes military service unpopular.
Nerdiness from Noah: Alpha Centauri
Noah Kristula-Green
March 29, 2013
Rebecca Greenfield went through a long list, including geography, building code limitations, and affluence.
Why Isn't Washington DC Hip?
Justin Green
September 26, 2012
On that score, the affluence of much of the country is a resource.
Fixing the Job Market
Zachary Karabell
September 2, 2011

Historical Examples of affluence

With her, I need hardly say it, would come plenty, affluence.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
Affluence we may know, but poverty is apt to be our companion.
The Strollers
Frederic S. Isham
Here it is affluence and age, there it is beauty and poverty.
The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. II (of II)
Charles James Lever
I have already told my reader that my youth was not passed in affluence.
Sir Jasper Carew
Charles James Lever
In their visionary leaps to affluence they soared to giddy heights.
The Trail of '98
Robert W. Service

British Dictionary definitions for affluence

affluence

noun

an abundant supply of money, goods, or property; wealth

rare abundance or profusion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for affluence

mid-14c., "a plentiful flowing, an abundance," from Old French affluence, from Latin affluentia "a flowing to," figuratively "affluence, abundance," noun of state from affluentem (nominative affluens) "flowing toward, abounding, rich, copious" (see affluent). Sense of "wealth" attested from c.1600, from notion of "a plentiful flow" (of the gifts of fortune).