plethora

American  

[pleth-er-uh] / ˈplɛθ ər ə /

noun

1. overabundance; excess.

   His crisis brought him a plethora of advice and an almost complete lack of assistance.

2. a large quantity or wide array; a lot.

   The co-op program offers a plethora of advantages for students.

   Visitors are drawn to the main beach, where a plethora of watersports can be enjoyed.

3. Pathology Archaic. a morbid condition due to excess of red corpuscles in the blood or increase in the quantity of blood.

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plethora British  

/ ˈplɛθərə, plɛˈθɒrɪk /

noun

1. superfluity or excess; overabundance

2. obsolete pathol a condition caused by dilation of superficial blood vessels, characterized esp by a reddish face

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Other Word Forms

• plethoric adjective
• plethorically adverb

Etymology

Origin of plethora

First recorded in 1535–45; from New Latin, from Greek plēthṓra “fullness,” from plḗthein “to fill, be full”; complete ( def. ), full ¹

Example Sentences

Throughout her seven years at the station, Tiffany has debuted a host of new tracks and interviewed a plethora of music stars.

From BBC

First, he has transformed the 1.84-acre plot into a veritable oasis with the help of professional arborists who have planted a plethora of exotic trees throughout the front and back yards.

From MarketWatch

And that plethora of content has turned Hallmark into a Christmas juggernaut, fueling competitors such as Lifetime and Netflix, which also produce holiday romantic comedies in the vein of Hallmark movies.

From Los Angeles Times

This year hasn’t seen much from the famed financial market guardians, however, despite a plethora of headline risks that should have triggered big repricings in Treasury bonds and the reshaping of the yield curve.

From Barron's

But the current viewer has an endless plethora of viewing choices through streaming and cable.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• deluge
• excess
• glut
• overabundance
• plenty
• profusion
• surfeit