enrich
Americanverb (used with object)
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enriches,
present (3rd person singular)
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enriched,
past participle, past
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enriching
present participle
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to supply with riches, wealth, abundant or valuable possessions, etc..
Commerce enriches a nation.
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to supply with abundance of anything desirable.
to enrich the mind with knowledge.
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to add greater value or significance to.
Art enriches life.
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to adorn or decorate.
a picture frame enriched with gold.
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to make finer in quality, as by supplying desirable elements or ingredients.
to enrich soil.
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Physics. to increase the proportion of a valuable mineral or isotope in (a substance or material).
The fuel was enriched with uranium 235 for the nuclear reactor.
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Nutrition.
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to restore to (a food) a nutrient that has been lost during an early stage of processing.
to enrich flour with thiamine, iron, niacin, and riboflavin.
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to add vitamins and minerals to (food) to enhance its nutritive value.
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verb
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to increase the wealth of
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to endow with fine or desirable qualities
to enrich one's experience by travelling
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to make more beautiful; adorn; decorate
a robe enriched with jewels
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to improve in quality, colour, flavour, etc
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to increase the food value of by adding nutrients
to enrich dog biscuits with calcium
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to make (soil) more productive, esp by adding fertilizer
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physics to increase the concentration or abundance of one component or isotope in (a solution or mixture); concentrate
to enrich a solution by evaporation
enrich a nuclear fuel
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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enrichernoun
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enrichmentnoun
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enrichedadjective
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self-enrichingadjective
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unenrichingadjective
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enrichinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enrichsimple
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enrichessimple
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have enrichedperfect
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has enrichedperfect
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am enrichingprogressive
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are enrichingprogressive
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is enrichingprogressive
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have been enrichingperfect progressive
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has been enrichingperfect progressive
Past
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enrichedsimple
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had enrichedperfect
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was enrichingprogressive
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were enrichingprogressive
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had been enrichingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enrich
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English enrichen, from Old French enrichir; equivalent to en- 1 + rich
Explanation
To enrich something is to make it richer, or to improve the quality of it. You play the lottery because it might enrich your bank account; you play ping-pong to enrich your quality of life. Regardless of the sense it is used in, the key to enrich is the word rich (you can almost think of it as the verb form of the adjective). So to enrich something is to make it rich, richer, or just plain better. Enrich always needs an object: You can’t visit a wax museum just to enrich, but you can go to enrich your life. Verbs that enrich include improve, enhance, cultivate, better, and develop.
Vocabulary lists containing enrich
List 1
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Lyndon B. Johnson on "The Great Society" (1964)
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Obama's State of the Union Address, 2014
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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:
In other words, quantum chemistry could develop the very tools needed to "enrich itself" in the coming decades.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 13, 2026
The new building is part of the main Yongbyon nuclear complex, and reportedly capable of housing up to 28 centrifuge cascades used to enrich uranium.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
But cat walking seems to enrich owners’ lives too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
The title track is one of several cuts featuring guitarist Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, who specializes in subtle harmonic accents that enrich a song’s meaning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
We consider George Washington a statesman because he spent tax money on widely admired programs and did not enrich himself as president.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The researchers also created a genome-wide hybridization panel that enriches the remaining sample for methylated DNA from solid organs, including organs that may be affected by disease.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
It has previously acknowledged to U.S. officials that it enriches uranium at Yongbyon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
He welcomes the diversity in ages and backgrounds, saying it "just enriches the crew in general."
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Karen Rodriguez, who plays loyal secretary Janet, feels the black and white presentation "enriches the storytelling".
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
New ways of stringing words and sentences together come into fashion and vanish again, but the underlying structure simply grows, enriches itself, expands.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Before the June 2025 strikes, it had accumulated an estimated 441kg enriched to 60%, close to weapons grade.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2026
Under a 2015 nuclear deal, Iran agreed to limit its enriched uranium stockpile to 300kg and enrichment to 3.67% purity.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2026
That is below the roughly 90% enrichment normally described as weapons-grade, but it is highly enriched uranium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026
Edward L Doheny was the founding “oiligarch” of the oil boom that enthralled and enriched L.A. a hundred years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
The flame, nearly invisible at first in that bright sunlight, enveloped a small twig, grew, was enriched with color and reached up to a branch which exploded with a sharp crack.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
By examining the chemical fingerprints inside these old stars, scientists can infer what the first stars were like and how they began enriching the cosmos with its earliest chemical elements.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
Preventing taxpayer dollars from enriching terrorists is a worthy objective.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
In other words, he seems to think that if the facility is enriching uranium at all, it is by definition military—i.e., its purpose is to build nuclear weapons.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
Everyone knows it isn’t cheaper to begin enriching over there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Working on a navy contract quietly and virtually single-handedly at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Lawrence’s former graduate student Philip Abelson had perfected a way of enriching uranium by thermal diffusion.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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