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
Lyndon B. Johnson on "The Great Society" (1964)
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List 1
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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:
But cat walking seems to enrich owners’ lives too.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Lawmakers who have poured over the text say there is no opportunity for Congress to challenge a decision to enrich if it is endorsed by the study.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 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
Uefa has accused Fifa of using football "to enrich themselves and their friends", while Concacaf and AFC have both expressed concerns about consultation over the plans.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
In an open letter to township residents and policy makers, he criticized “idiosyncratic alternatives” to public districts, many of them “owned and operated by large national corporations whose number one mission is to enrich shareholders.”
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Not all his stories are original, given the breadth of material he covers, but he enriches them with fascinating details.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
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
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
Pedagogically Sound: Including multiple perspectives and views on material not only enriches the curriculum content, but also provides radically different frameworks and paradigms to students on content.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Since then, Centrus has been making money primarily as a broker-dealer for enriched uranium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Many said they want to give their pets a fully enriched life, fearing that indoor-only cats miss out on the outdoors experience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
"It's enriched and nourished my life and my sense of my national identity so much to find out more and more about this," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Heavily processed milling strips away bran, germ and other nutrients, and while federal law requires such flour to be enriched, the end product still lacks key vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Last week’s Thanksgiving was artificially sweetened, enriched with tense preservatives, and wrapped in plastic.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
If the case drags past September, Paramount may be forced to pay a large ticking fee, enriching hedge funds, not creatives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 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
“International students and scholars bring unique perspectives to our classrooms and research teams, enriching the learning environment and helping us find more creative and effective solutions to the world’s problems,” said Stanford spokesperson Angie Davis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Those explosions scattered newly created heavy elements throughout the cluster, enriching the gas that later gave birth to another generation of stars.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
Edinburgh at that time was a center of intellectual vigor, and Hutton luxuriated in its enriching possibilities.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
