thrive
Americanverb (used without object)
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thrives,
present (3rd person singular)
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thrived,
past participle, past
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throve,
past (Archaic)
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thriven,
past participle (Archaic)
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thriving
present participle
verb phrase
verb
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to grow strongly and vigorously
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to do well; prosper
Usage
What does thrive mean? To thrive is to grow and develop strongly. This sense of the word can be applied to people as well as other living things, including animals and plants. Thrive can also mean to be successful, to be fulfilled, or to develop successfully. Both senses of thrive are often discussed alongside the specific conditions, environment, or situation that allow or help someone or something to thrive. For example, babies thrive in loving homes with the proper nutrition and care. Wild animals tend to thrive when their natural habitat is preserved. Plants thrive when they receive the right amount of sunlight and water. A person might begin to thrive in their career when they work at a place where their talents are appreciated and they’re given the freedom to try new things. The adjective thriving can be used to describe someone or something that is developing successfully or that is being successful. Example: Being around other creative people really helps my writing thrive.
Synonym Usage
See succeed.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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thrivesimple
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thrivessimple
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have thrivedperfect
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have thrivenperfect
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has thrivedperfect
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has thrivenperfect
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am thrivingprogressive
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are thrivingprogressive
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is thrivingprogressive
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have been thrivingperfect progressive
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has been thrivingperfect progressive
Past
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thrivedsimple
-
throvesimple
-
had thrivedperfect
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had thrivenperfect
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was thrivingprogressive
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were thrivingprogressive
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had been thrivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of thrive
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English thriven, from Old Norse thrīfast “to thrive,” reflexive of thrīfa “to grasp”
Explanation
To thrive is to do well or flourish. If your new cookie delivery business thrives, you'll be rolling in dough — not literally, of course. The verb thrive means to flourish or grow vigorously, and it can be applied to something like a business or to the health of someone or something. Plants can thrive in a greenhouse, and children can thrive if they eat well and exercise. To thrive on or in something can also be used more figuratively — people can thrive on music, listening to their favorite songs all day and others can thrive on art, visiting their favorite galleries and museums.
Vocabulary lists containing thrive
List 3
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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:
He demands focus and clarity from his charges so they can thrive in the most intense battles.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
They functionally shift blame onto the individual for failing to thrive in a society that makes thriving almost impossible.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026
Over the following millions of years, global cooling gradually reduced the areas where they could thrive.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
Rispoli describes the scene as a moment that has helped Goblikon thrive in the comedy world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
For me, Louellashop.com was that something, and I looked forward to seeing her thrive well into the future.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Valentine added that by "continuing the channel on BBC iPlayer, we can ensure Scottish content thrives in a digital environment".
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
“She thrives in the type of community that produces creative collaborations.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Today we are more likely to plug the passage into a chatbot to determine its source and then move on to social media, where rudimentary reading thrives yet true literacy withers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Leveraging cuteness to sell products isn’t exactly a new phenomenon — just ask the toy industry, which thrives on getting kids and young adults invested in collecting new cute or cuddly products.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026
This baby thrives on her Nana's magic touch.
From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon
Perhaps this is why Mourinho's teams have typically thrived in difficult conditions, as underdogs, when the stakes have been high, or when games move away from pre-planned patterns.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Carney thrived as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before leading the central banks of Canada and England.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
Founded in Hawaii in the 1970s, the company originally thrived on a close relationship with the state’s powerful senior senator, Daniel Inouye.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
The state “hasn’t thrived in the last decade, and certainly hasn’t thrived since COVID, the way other states have,” said John Horvick, one of Oregon’s leading independent pollsters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
Even so, Pong grew and thrived at Wat Singh.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
Most of what we could call our charismatic megaflora was hauled in here from elsewhere, and it throve.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2021
Japan’s economy wilted while Germany’s throve, adding several hundred thousand clean-energy jobs—part of the energy transition’s net macroeconomic benefit.
From Forbes ● Jun. 28, 2014
It’s a reminder, however, that even in the most horrific of circumstances, something remarkable more than survived; it throve and grew and eventually reached around the Earth.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2013
When the moisture rose above 1%, as it may during the Martian spring when the icecap melts or evaporates, the bacteria throve.
From Time Magazine Archive
In a small log chapel by the side of the Indian graveyard, this new mission of the older faith throve apace.
From Stories of the Badger State by Reuben Gold Thwaites
In England, gorillas have recently lived and thriven amazingly because the keepers now put plate glass between them and the staring crowds.
From Time Magazine Archive
The magnitude of this difficulty only appears the greater when we turn from the forty-seven socialistic experiments which have failed to the seventy-two which have thriven.
From Contemporary Socialism by John Rae
Taganrok has thriven rapidly, as Peter the Great foresaw it would do, and has become one of the most commercial towns of Southern Russia.
From Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c. by Xavier Hommaire de Hell
Honour and loyalty would have thriven without the chivalrous poets, as they had thriven before them in every nation on earth.
From Medieval English Literature Home University of Modern Knowledge #43 by W. P. (William Paton) Ker
Amidst that great household, where the thriftless habits of the master had descended to the servants, and rendered all reckless and wasteful alike, Darby had thriven and grown almost rich.
From Barrington Volume I (of II) by Charles James Lever
And it’s not just older generations who are thriving.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 1, 2026
Hot-air ballooning in Cappadocia is a thriving industry that sees dozens of balloons take to the skies on clear mornings.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
But a thriving community of Persian Jews on Long Island, where I grew up, are some of the war’s most ardent defenders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
A Treasury spokesperson said hair and beauty businesses played an important role in supporting jobs, apprenticeships and thriving high streets.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Back in Suffolk, Tateh made me take a beauty course from a woman who had a thriving beauty parlor downtown.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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