prosperity
Americannoun
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a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects; good fortune.
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prosperities, prosperous circumstances, characterized by financial success or good fortune.
noun
Usage
What does prosperity mean? Prosperity is success or the state of success, especially financial or material success. Prosperity often implies success in terms of wealth, health, and happiness. But it can also be used more broadly. The verb prosper means to achieve prosperity. Someone who achieves prosperity can be described as prosperous. The word prosperity is often paired with words like peace and wealth, such as when wishing people well, as in May your year be full of peace and prosperity. Example: You can achieve prosperity through dedication and hard work.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of prosperity
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English prosperite, from Old French, from Latin prosperitās; see prosperous, -ity
Explanation
Use prosperity to refer to the state of being successful. In the US, the decades following World War II were characterized by rising prosperity, with large numbers moving into the middle class. Prosperity usually means the type of success that comes from having a lot of money. Our modern English word derives from Middle English prosperite, borrowed through Old French from Latin prosperus "favorable." The Latin word also means "fortunate," and the word prosperity does have an element of good luck.
Vocabulary lists containing prosperity
100 Top "SAT" Words
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Animal Farm
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Figurative Language in King's "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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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.
"Armenian people voted for peace, regional prosperity and cooperation," he said.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
A market in which private equity increasingly buys up single-family housing isn’t going to yield havens of picket fences and prosperity.
From Salon • Jun. 3, 2026
Taking this route requires continuing to discover and harness innovations like artificial intelligence and clean tech to boost productivity and to yield widely shared prosperity and, thus, to restore confidence in the American dream.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
Then, the hosts dig into the stat dashboard the U.N. wants to replace GDP as the main prosperity metric and debate whether GDP is even relevant enough for it to matter.
From Slate • May 30, 2026
“I shall speak it plainly and bluntly Reverend. This house, which might have been left to the town to fund a coming prosperity, was left instead”—and here he focused accusing eyes on Turner—“to your son.”
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
