prosperity
Americannoun
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prosperities
plural
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a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects; good fortune.
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prosperities, prosperous circumstances, characterized by financial success or good fortune.
noun
Usage
What does prosperity mean? Prosperity is success or the state of success, especially financial or material success. Prosperity often implies success in terms of wealth, health, and happiness. But it can also be used more broadly. The verb prosper means to achieve prosperity. Someone who achieves prosperity can be described as prosperous. The word prosperity is often paired with words like peace and wealth, such as when wishing people well, as in May your year be full of peace and prosperity. Example: You can achieve prosperity through dedication and hard work.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of prosperity
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English prosperite, from Old French, from Latin prosperitās; see prosperous, -ity
Explanation
Use prosperity to refer to the state of being successful. In the US, the decades following World War II were characterized by rising prosperity, with large numbers moving into the middle class. Prosperity usually means the type of success that comes from having a lot of money. Our modern English word derives from Middle English prosperite, borrowed through Old French from Latin prosperus "favorable." The Latin word also means "fortunate," and the word prosperity does have an element of good luck.
Vocabulary lists containing prosperity
100 Top "SAT" Words
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Animal Farm
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Figurative Language in King's "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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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:
“Xinjiang today enjoys social stability, prosperity, ethnic unity, religious harmony, and its people live and work in peace.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Once again, that prosperity has failed to materialize.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026
He listed city and growth deals, and the former Conservative UK government's levelling up and shared prosperity fund projects, as examples.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
US officials said the envoys would discuss "security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war prosperity plan, and other aspects of the conflict."
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
In gratitude, the king presented the entire village with gifts of seeds and farming equipment that brought more prosperity than any reward of gold and jade.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
Studying the composition and other prosperities the inner three planets could also improve understanding how unusual ultra-low density super puff planets formed, the researchers said.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2024
Drawing on the inheritance of an almost folkloric wisdom, Garcia is unafraid of suggesting that passion is "a frail interlude between the prosperities of loss."
From Time Magazine Archive
Was it not Miriam that accompanied him in his prosperities, that hailed his increasing glory, that aided his triumphant songs when the Egyptian army was submerged in the Red Sea? and can Miriam be envious?
From Female Scripture Biographies, Volume I by Francis Augustus Cox
Woe to the prosperities of the world, once and again, through fear of adversity, and corruption of joy!
From The Confessions of St. Augustine by E. B. (Edward Bouverie) Pusey
Did the prosperities and confident hopes with which the twentieth century opened, mark nothing more than a culmination of fortuitous good luck?
From The Salvaging Of Civilisation by H. G.
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
