profusion

American  

[pruh-fyoo-zhuhn] / prəˈfju ʒən /

noun

• profusions
  plural

1. abundance; abundant quantity.

   Synonyms:

   bounty, copiousness

   Antonyms:

   scarcity

2. a great quantity or amount (often followed byof ).

3. lavish spending; extravagance.

   Synonyms:

   waste, excess, profligacy, prodigality

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Synonym Usage

See plenty.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• profusions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of profusion

First recorded in 1535–45; rom Latin profūsiōn- (stem of profūsiō ) “a pouring out, extravagance,” originally, “libation”; see profuse, fusion

Explanation

If there's an abundance of something, you can say that there's a profusion of it. Hilarious and bizarre YouTube videos certainly exist in profusion. The noun profusion comes from a Latin word profusionem, meaning "a pouring out." So you can think of profusion as an outpouring of something — an overflow or cornucopia of it. An area known for wine making should have a profusion of grapes growing along the hillsides. And an awesome performance should garner a profusion of compliments and shouts of "encore!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

profusion profusions

“The Song of Stork and Dromedary” draws on the lives of Charlotte and Emily Brontë, but expands outward in a profusion of linked stories that leap over eras and continents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

This profusion has made the convenience store business one of the most fast-paced and competitive in the country — one that moves in lockstep with boom-and-bust social media attention spans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025

He certainly is not advocating violent demonstrations but even a profusion of peaceful protests elsewhere would still require an increase in public-order policing.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2025

There’s also evidence that the profusion of bodies and nightmarish scenes that characterize Mitchell’s later work started to creep in before he went to Vietnam.

From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2025

Vermont’s mountains are comparatively soft and rolling, and its profusion of dairy farms gives it a more welcoming and inhabited feel.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

The former president had chosen Kehinde Wiley to paint his image, and Wiley responded with his trademark mix of formal portraiture and baroque profusions of decoration.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 7, 2022

Grande’s bravura vocal profusions and naughty wit and her collaborators’ top-shelf arrangements are undeniable.

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2020

Mourners flowed down roads barely wide enough for one car, lined by profusions of pink and white bougainvillea.

From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2019

But, instead of planes of all sizes and descriptions circling at every altitude, there are wild profusions of different species of fish.

From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2012

Laotse had come in the spirit of Plenydd the Light-bringer; in the spirit of Alawn, to raise up presently sweet profusions of song.

From The Crest-Wave of Evolution A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19 by Kenneth Morris

Related Words

• glut
• outpouring