annual
Americanadjective
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of, for, or pertaining to a year; yearly.
annual salary.
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occurring or returning once a year.
an annual celebration.
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Botany. living only one growing season, as beans or corn.
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performed or executed during a year.
the annual course of the sun.
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Entomology. living or lasting but one season or year, as certain insects or colonies of insects.
noun
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annuals
plural
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Botany. a plant living only one year or season.
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a book, report, etc., published annually.
adjective
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occurring, done, etc, once a year or every year; yearly
an annual income
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lasting for a year
an annual subscription
noun
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An annual plant. Annuals germinate, blossom, produce seed, and die in one growing season. They are common in environments with short growing seasons. Most desert plants are annuals, germinating and flowering after rainfall. Many common weeds, wild flowers, garden flowers, and vegetables are annuals. Examples of annuals include tomatoes, corn, wheat, sunflowers, petunias, and zinnias.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of annual
1350–1400; < Late Latin annuālis, equivalent to Latin annu ( us ) yearly (derivative of annus circuit of the sun, year) + -ālis -al 1; replacing Middle English annuel < Anglo-French < Latin
Explanation
When something is annual, it happens once a year. An annual holiday party should be a time for fun, but it also can be a sad yearly reminder of the passage of time. An annual event happens every year: "I always forget to take sunglasses to my annual eye exam and am left wearing those horrible disposable shades." Annual earnings are made over the course of a year: "His annual income is on a steady decline." And an annual plant lives for only a year: "My neighbor Shirley always plants the most garishly bright annuals instead of more subdued perennials." Whether it's eye exams, income, or plants, you can expect to see something annual again in about 365 days.
Vocabulary lists containing annual
Dirty Words: The Language of Gardening
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New Year, New Words: Vocabulary for January
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Academy Awards, List 1
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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.
See Examples For:
Amazon Web Services could “very possibly” become a business that does $1 trillion in annual revenue, Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy said recently.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
The already frail economy is reeling from an estimated $270 billion in damage to infrastructure from U.S. and Israeli airstrikes—equivalent to about 60% of Iran’s annual output.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
That is the longest it has ever taken parliament to pass an annual general budget.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
And Aug. 23 will mark the fourth annual “A Very Laufey Day.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Things came to a head in March 1597, when the King cut off Tycho’s annual pension.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Where there had been a jungle of weeds and vines, perennials and annuals bloomed thanks to avid volunteer gardeners and contributions from locals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
Koons said he’s excited to use native succulents and drought-tolerant plants as well as perennials and annuals that will provide a richness of color.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2025
And the exception was the 80th anniversary of the first book, when the Dundee-based publisher released The Broons and Oor Wullie annuals in the same year.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2023
These plant species include ferns, herbs, shrubs, vines and trees, annuals and perennials, grasses and forbs, plants of the tropics, subtropics, temperate and boreal zones, and conifers.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2023
Because these seeds are edible, human beings took these annuals and helped them spread across the globe.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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.
