plentiful

[ plen-ti-fuhl ]

adjective

1. existing in great plenty:

   Coal was plentiful, and therefore cheap, in that region.

   Antonyms: scanty, sparse

2. yielding abundantly:

   a plentiful source of inspiration.

   Synonyms: luxuriant, productive, bounteous, fruitful

   Antonyms: sterile, fruitless, barren

plentiful

/ ˈplɛntɪfʊl /

adjective

1. ample; abundant
2. having or yielding an abundance

   a plentiful year

Derived Forms

• ˈplentifulness, noun
• ˈplentifully, adverb

Other Words From

• plenti·ful·ly adverb
• plenti·ful·ness noun
• over·plenti·ful adjective
• over·plenti·ful·ly adverb
• over·plenti·ful·ness noun
• quasi-plenti·ful adjective
• quasi-plenti·ful·ly adverb
• un·plenti·ful adjective
• un·plenti·ful·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of plentiful¹

A late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; plenty, -ful

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

The whole thing sounds like a lot of fuss over puffed-up marketing, a commodity in plentiful supply in bike advertising.

From Outside Online

A feared predatorThe red wolf population, once plentiful throughout the Southeastern United States, declined rapidly through the early 1900s.

From Washington Post

Cash will be so plentiful that the company will even buy back some of its shares, a common price-supporting practice that Netflix hasn’t done since 2011.

From Fortune

Personally, reading “The Duke and I” puts me into the fantasy of a Regency where dukes are young and plentiful, numbering more than the 28 that actually existed.

From Washington Post

Rain is abundant, food is plentiful and there are no carnivores large enough to pose a threat.

From Washington Post

Riffing off the slogan “Now Everyone Can Fly,” the carrier offered no-frills flights that were both cheap and plentiful.

From The Daily Beast

But this is the Middle East, after all, where budgets are small, and wars are plentiful.

From The Daily Beast

However, those galaxies are also more distant, marking a time in the cosmic history when black hole food was more plentiful.

From The Daily Beast

While plentiful and cheap today, aluminum was once an extremely valuable metal.

From The Daily Beast

During the plentiful dry season, women consumed more calories and more energy-rich lipids.

From The Daily Beast

I pulled up and glanced about, but the clumps of scrubby timber were just plentiful enough to cut off a clear view of the flat.

From Project Gutenberg

We picketed the horses in the open bottom where grass was more plentiful than in the brush, and settled ourselves to sleep.

From Project Gutenberg

But with small engines, or where coal is plentiful, the engine would be best without it.

From Project Gutenberg

In South Africa gold and diamonds are plentiful; and Newfoundland has wonderful deposits of iron ore.

From Project Gutenberg

Mists or hoar frosts on the tenth of March betokens (sic) a plentiful year, but not without some diseases.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ample
• bountiful
• fertile
• generous
• productive
• prolific
• sufficient
• unlimited