profusion
Americannoun
-
profusions
plural
-
abundance; abundant quantity.
- Synonyms:
- bounty, copiousness
- Antonyms:
- scarcity
-
a great quantity or amount (often followed byof ).
-
lavish spending; extravagance.
- Synonyms:
- waste, excess, profligacy, prodigality
Synonym Usage
See plenty.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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!"
Vocabulary lists containing profusion
The Great Gatsby
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"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Dracula
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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.
See Examples For:
Many turn to a profusion of platforms allowing people to squeeze income from their assets that is potentially passive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
But horror stories have been around forever — and never in such profusion as they are now, to the point that there is little new under the bloody sun.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
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
Prim-lipped Victorian china dolls stared in profusion through dusty store windows, like so many props from respectable horror films.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
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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
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.