plentiful
Americanadjective
-
ample; abundant
-
having or yielding an abundance
a plentiful year
Synonym Usage
Plentiful, ample, abundant, bountiful describe a more than adequate supply of something. Plentiful suggests an over-adequate quantity: a plentiful supply. Ample suggests a more than adequate quality as well: to give ample praise. Abundant implies a greater degree of plenty, and bountiful a still more ample quality as well: an abundant, even a bountiful, harvest.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of plentiful
A late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at plenty, -ful
Explanation
If something is plentiful, there is a lot of it. Also, plentiful things yield large amounts of something, like an abundant farm. Apples are plentiful in a plentiful year on an apple farm. Plentiful is an adjective to describe “many” or “a lot.” It’s plenty for “very much” and -ful for “full of” so plentiful is full of very much! It’s a word for “large amounts.” If you have plenty of potato chips, you have a plentiful supply of chips. Also, something that has or produces great amounts can be called plentiful. A tree that spawns many apples is plentiful.
Vocabulary lists containing plentiful
Much Ado: Synonyms for "Many"
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Obama's State of the Union Address, 2014
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Z for Zachariah
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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.
For U.S. refiners in particular, there’s also a longstanding disconnect between places where domestic crude supplies are plentiful, and therefore cheaper, and places where demand for fuels is at its highest.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
Finland has emerged as an attractive location for data centres because of its cool climate, plentiful low-carbon electricity and relatively uncongested power grid.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
This typically happens in the spring and summer and it’s an ideal time for seals, sea lions, seabirds and dolphins to give birth, since food is plentiful.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
But rich private business owners are now so plentiful that we’re living in America’s first Age of Millionaires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
In the alpine jungles, lakes and little rivers drew herds of deer and the big cats that hunted them, making for plentiful game.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
