ripe
having arrived at such a stage of growth or development as to be ready for reaping, gathering, eating, or use, as grain or fruit; completely matured.
resembling such fruit, as in ruddiness and fullness: ripe, red lips.
advanced to the point of being in the best condition for use, as cheese or beer.
fully grown or developed, as animals when ready to be killed and used for food.
arrived at the highest or a high point of development or excellence; mature.
of mature judgment or knowledge: ripe scholars; a ripe mind.
characterized by full development of body or mind: of ripe years.
(of time) advanced: a ripe old age.
(of ideas, plans, etc.) ready for action, execution, etc.
(of people) fully prepared or ready to do or undergo something: He was ripe for a change in jobs.
fully or sufficiently advanced; ready enough; auspicious: The time is ripe for a new foreign policy.
ready for some operation or process: a ripe abscess.
Archaic. drunk: reeling ripe.
Origin of ripe
1synonym study For ripe
Other words for ripe
Other words from ripe
- ripely, adverb
- ripeness, noun
- half-ripe, adjective
Words that may be confused with ripe
- rife, ripe
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ripe in a sentence
It tastes a little like turpentine, but loses this taste more and more the riper it gets.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida PfeifferNever were high-bush blackberries finer or riper; but the largest and ripest seemed always the hardest to get at.
But I am departing from my story, and relating the follies of my youth instead of those of riper age.
The Adopted Daughter | Elizabeth SandhamIn this world, whether in boyhood or riper years, the happiest state of existence is when under control.
Newton Forster | Captain Frederick MarryatThat sad, though glorious reversion of our riper and darker years?
Ernest Linwood | Caroline Lee Hentz
British Dictionary definitions for ripe
/ (raɪp) /
(of fruit, grain, etc) mature and ready to be eaten or used; fully developed
mature enough to be eaten or used: ripe cheese
fully developed in mind or body
resembling ripe fruit, esp in redness or fullness: a ripe complexion
(postpositive foll by for) ready or eager (to undertake or undergo an action)
(postpositive foll by for) suitable; right or opportune: the time is not yet ripe
mature in judgment or knowledge
advanced but healthy (esp in the phrase a ripe old age)
slang
complete; thorough
excessive; exorbitant
slang slightly indecent; risqué
Origin of ripe
1Derived forms of ripe
- ripely, adverb
- ripeness, noun
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 Idioms and Phrases with ripe
In addition to the idiom beginning with ripe
- ripe old age
also see:
- time is ripe
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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