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Synonyms

progeny

American  
[proj-uh-nee] / ˈprɒdʒ ə ni /

noun

  • progeny,
    plural
  • progenies
    plural
  1. a descendant or offspring, as a child, plant, or animal.

  2. such descendants or offspring collectively.

  3. something that originates or results from something else; outcome; issue.


progeny British  
/ ˈprɒdʒɪnɪ /

noun

  1. the immediate descendant or descendants of a person, animal, etc

  2. a result or outcome

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of progeny

1250–1300; Middle English progenie < Middle French < Latin prōgeniēs offspring, equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + gen-, base of gignere to beget (akin to kin ) + -iēs feminine noun suffix

Explanation

Progeny means "offspring" or "children." You and your brothers are the progeny of your parents, and your cat's new litter of kittens is her progeny. Synonyms for progeny include descendants, product, and offspring, so you're also your grandparents' and great-grandparents' progeny. And, if your pet goat has babies every spring, you'll get to raise dozens of her progeny. Plants have progeny too — blow the fluffy seeds of a dandelion in your yard and its progeny can multiply, summer after summer, until your lawn is full of cheerful yellow flowers.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing progeny

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:

The mismatch—the strictures of the business world and a galloping imagination—launched Kafka and his innumerable artistic progeny, which continue all the way to today’s deadpan sitcoms detailing strange doings at the office.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 20, 2026

But none of this—its imperfect construction, its lack of architectural progeny, its scientific failure—affects its intrinsic greatness.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 24, 2026

Family was a major theme of the night, with numerous stars spotlighting their talented progeny, as was the importance of soulful artistry.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 29, 2026

Pulte’s father, Mark, like others of the patriarch’s progeny, has kept a hand in the grandfather’s work, including funding religious charities with Fellowship ties.

From Salon Jun. 9, 2026

There were the high-yellow progeny of AME preachers debating the clerics of Ausar-Set.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The series wisely taps some familiar faces from Bravo shows of yore, tossing “Housewives” progenies Ariana Biermann, Riley Burruss, Gia Giudice and Brooks Marks into the batter before adding a few special ingredients.

From Salon Aug. 2, 2025

Symbolically, though, the first of Johnson’s hallmark progenies graced a route that bendies had snaked along and where the Routemaster had met its end – the number 38, which links Hackney with Victoria.

From The Guardian Aug. 3, 2015

But more than just being little progenies, the Smith children combine their beyond-their-years giftedness with a truly kid-like apparent pleasure in what they do.

From Salon Oct. 19, 2010

That is growing seedling progenies of certain parent trees.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Forty-Second Annual Meeting Urbana, Illinois, August 28, 29 and 30, 1951 by Northern Nut Growers Association

"Why are the poor hungry?—Why do not your flocks and herds multiply and increase?—Why do ye maltreat the sire and kill the mother of many progenies."

From Another World Fragments from the Star City of Montalluyah by Benjamin Lumley

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