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• plenty
  plenty

  noun

  a full or abundant supply or amount.
• Plenty
  Plenty

  noun

  a large bay of the Pacific on the NE coast of the North Island, New Zealand

plenty

American  

[plen-tee] / ˈplɛn ti /

noun

• plenties
  plural

1. a full or abundant supply or amount.

   There is plenty of time.

2. the state or quality of being plentiful; abundance.

   resources in plenty.

   Synonyms:

   affluence, luxuriance, copiousness, plenteousness

3. an abundance, as of goods or luxuries, or a time of such abundance.

   the plenty of a rich harvest; the plenty that comes with peace.

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adjective

1. existing in ample quantity or number; plentiful; abundant.

   Food is never too plenty in the area.

2. more than sufficient; ample.

   That helping is plenty for me.

adverb

1. Informal. fully; quite.

   plenty good enough.

plenty ¹ British  

/ ˈplɛntɪ /

noun

1. (often foll by of) a great number, amount, or quantity; lots

   plenty of time

   there are plenty of cars on display here

2. generous or ample supplies of wealth, produce, or resources

   the age of plenty

3. existing in abundance

   food in plenty

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determiner

1. 1. very many; ample

      plenty of people believe in ghosts

   2. ( as pronoun )

      there's plenty more

      that's plenty, thanks

adverb

1. not_standard (intensifier)

   he was plenty mad

2. informal more than adequately; abundantly

   the water's plenty hot enough

Plenty ² British  

/ ˈplɛntɪ /

noun

1. a large bay of the Pacific on the NE coast of the North Island, New Zealand

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plenty Idioms  

1. see under not the only fish in the sea.

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Usage

The construction plenty of is standard in all varieties of speech and writing: plenty of room in the shed. The use of plenty preceding a noun, without an intervening of, first appeared in the late 19th century: plenty room in the shed. It occurs today chiefly in informal speech. As an adverb, a use first recorded in the mid-19th century, plenty is also informal and is found chiefly in speech or written representations of speech.

Synonym Usage

Plenty, abundance, profusion refer to a large quantity or supply. Plenty suggests a supply that is fully adequate to any demands: plenty of money. Abundance implies a great plenty, an ample and generous oversupply: an abundance of rain. Profusion applies to such a lavish and excessive abundance as often suggests extravagance or prodigality: luxuries in great profusion.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overplenty
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plenties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of plenty

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English plente, from Old French; replacing Middle English plenteth, from Old French plented, plentet, from Latin plēnitāt- (stem of plēnitās ) “fullness.” See plenum, -ity

Explanation

If you've eaten your fill at a big meal, you know by your full stomach that you have had plenty. In fact, if you had more than plenty, you might even get the feeling you've had too much! The word plenty usually refers to more than just enough, and this comes, via Middle French plenté, from the Latin word plēnitās, "fullness," from plenus, "full, complete." The meaning is apparent in the following quote by English novelist George Eliot: "I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music." May you have plenty of what you need, and some of what you want as well.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plenty Plenty plenties

The par threes are also likely to generate plenty of drama, especially the 15th where matches will reach a crucial stage.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

Scenes designed to advance the plot feel more contrived than ones in which characters just share thoughts and feelings, but there are plenty of those.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

“A cooler forecast with plenty of supply is keeping the ‘sell the rallies’ theme in place,” Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

"Belgium is attractive because it is a major transport hub and has plenty of warehouses close to the countries where the goods are sold," customs spokeswoman Florence Angelici told AFP.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

“You’ve got plenty of tomorrows left. Now, are you quite sure you’re not too tired?”

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

Plenty of industries, from aerospace to hairdressers, are regulated by what we call ex ante restrictions, basically the idea that if you can’t prove in advance its safe, you can’t do it or sell it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

Plenty of business scions have inherited a fortune and used it to make a slightly bigger hoard.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Plenty of plans allow one and not the other, which is a dead end.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

Plenty will wonder why he wants to put himself through it all once more.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Plenty of law enforcement personnel would’ve done exactly that and not been unjustified in so doing.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

In which case, the contest of plenties will be on again.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 6, 2010

Among the various plenties that abound in the U. S., the most indigenous and widespread is the plenty of Nothing that almost any U. S. citizen will admit he's got.

From Time Magazine Archive

Peace, Shakespeare's "dear nurse of arts, plenties and joyful births," succors national life at last.

From Time Magazine Archive

Complement of human kind, having us at vantage still, our sumptuous indigence, oh, barren mound, thy plenties fill!

From Confessions and Criticisms by Julian Hawthorne

Complement of human kind, Holding us at vantage still, Our sumptuous indigence, O barren mound, thy plenties fill!

From Poems Household Edition by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Related Words

• enough
• good deal
• luxury
• plethora
• quantity
• torrent
• wealth