ample

[ am-puhl ]

/ ˈæm pəl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ample ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, am·pler, am·plest.

fully sufficient or more than adequate for the purpose or needs; plentiful; enough: an ample supply of water; ample time to finish.

of sufficient or abundant measure; liberal; copious: an ample reward.

of adequate or more than adequate extent, size, or amount; large; spacious; roomy: ample storage space.

Nearby words

Origin of ample

1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French < Latin amplus wide, large

SYNONYMS FOR ample

2 generous, free, abounding, lavish, plenteous, overflowing.

3 extensive, vast, great, capacious.

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ANTONYMS FOR ample

2 scanty, meager.

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Related formsam·ple·ness, noun

Synonym study

1. See plentiful. 2. Ample, liberal, copious, profuse describe degrees of abundant provision. Ample implies a plentiful provision: to give ample praise. Liberal implies provision from a generous supply (more than ample but less than copious ): Liberal amounts of food were distributed to the needy. Copious implies an apparently inexhaustible and lavish abundance: a copious flow of tears. Profuse implies a still more unrestrained abundance of provision or flow: profuse in his apologies.

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

Examples from the Web for ample

For anything to work, including law itself, there must be ample room for individual responsibility.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Three years later, Washington came armed with ample alcohol—enough for a half gallon for every voter—and won with 331 votes.
Founding Fathers Loved Drunk Voters|Kevin Bleyer|November 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Do you feel they did an ample job of portraying his troubled later years—in particular, the violence towards women?
Octavia Spencer on Hollywood and Race: The Film Roles I’m Offered Are Too Small|Marlow Stern|July 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It typically came with a desk in the building, and ample access to lawmakers.
Who’s Watching Your Statehouse? No One.|Eleanor Clift|July 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

There is ample proof, for instance, that first-generation immigrants do not increase crime, they help to reduce it.
Cardinal O'Malley: Pope Francis Knows Immigrants Are the Future of the Church|Christopher Dickey|June 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Throwing my arms fully around her, so as to include, if possible, the hail body in my ample embrace.
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Vol. XX|Alexander Leighton
It was a wooden house of four or five rooms, with an ample veranda, surrounded by an acre of ground fenced in.
White Shadows in the South Seas|Frederick O'Brien
To this he fastened an ample bag of strong salmon-netting, which he had brought with him from Edmundston for this purpose.
The Kindred of the Wild|Charles G. D. Roberts
He had in an ample measure the first of all requirements in a biographer, personal acquaintance with the man whose life he wrote.
The Age of Tennyson|Hugh Walker
The income was ample and certain, and the risk and labor slight.
Old Times on the Upper Mississippi|George Byron Merrick

British Dictionary definitions for ample

ample

/ (ˈæmpəl) /

adjective

more than sufficient; abundantan ample helping

large in size, extent, or amountof ample proportions

Derived Formsampleness, noun

Word Origin for ample

C15: from Old French, from Latin amplus spacious

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 ample

ample

adj.

mid-15c., from Middle French ample, from Latin amplus "large, spacious," related to ampla "handle, grip."

ample

adjective, am·pler, am·plest.

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Nearby words

Origin of ample

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for ample

British Dictionary definitions for ample

ample

adjective

Word Origin for ample

Word Origin and History for ample

ample