prosper
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Usage
What does prosper mean? Prosper means to be successful or fortunate, especially in a financial or material way.Prosper often implies success in terms of wealth, health, and happiness. But it can also be used broadly, much like the words succeed, thrive, and flourish.You can say that someone is prospering in the present, but the word is perhaps most commonly used in the context of what will happen in the future.Prosper is associated with its use in the phrase “live long and prosper,” the catchphrase of the character Spock in the Star Trek series of TV shows and movies.Someone who prospers can be described as prosperous. The noun prosperity refers to a state of success.Example: If we can continue to maintain this level of quality, our company will continue to prosper.
Related Words
See succeed.
Other Word Forms
- unprospered adjective
- unprospering adjective
Etymology
Origin of prosper
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English prosperen, Old French prosperer, from Latin prosperāre “to make happy,” derivative of prosperus prosperous
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.
He said the bank and local communities “can work together” to help people prosper by buying homes and getting higher-paying jobs.
From MarketWatch
Countries that industrialized, prospered; those that failed to industrialize, floundered.
But recent rounds suggest he has developed qualities requiring mere preservation to prosper at Augusta.
From BBC
They cannot prosper without American guarantees, but those guarantees come at a price.
Equally appalling is the story of the relocated Japanese who settled—and prospered—in Peru.
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.
