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
Derived 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
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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.
Plentiful jobs and potential six-figure incomes are luring workers to one sector.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
Plentiful reserves tend to promise great riches, hence crude has been labelled "black gold".
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
Plentiful data and analyses support the assertions that sex is very complex in humans and that binary and simplistic explanations for human sex biology are either wholly incorrect or substantially incomplete.
From Scientific American • May 1, 2023
Plentiful cloud cover will blanket Western Washington on Thursday, continuing to raise overnight lows and daytime highs from below-average temperatures, according to the weather service.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 2, 2023
Plentiful as vegetables are at times, they are only used in the coarsest manner.
From The Hills and the Vale by Jefferies, Richard
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.
