thriving
Americanadjective
-
prospering or doing well; highly successful.
The Arts Commission plans to expand its thriving ArtSmart program into all 21 of the city’s elementary schools.
-
growing or developing vigorously; flourishing.
When I worked on her farm ten years ago there was still a thriving goat herd, but she’s been unable to keep it up on her own.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of thriving
Explanation
Something that's thriving is doing very well. You have a thriving cupcake business if you can hardly bake enough to keep up with your customers' orders. Use the adjective thriving to describe something that's healthy — like your new puppy — or profitable and busy — like your dad's car dealership. A thriving Mexican food truck always has a long line in front of it, and a thriving publisher puts out many popular books. Thriving comes from the verb thrive, and its Old Norse root word, þrifask, which means both "thrive" and "grasp to oneself," from þrifa, "to clutch or grasp."
Vocabulary lists containing thriving
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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State of the Union Address 2016
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Ethan Frome
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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.
“The comedy community was thriving and everyone did everyone’s show. I really do feel like the L.A. scene is like that right now.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
If that happens, the barn owls he enjoys watching over his farm may have an even better chance of thriving.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
Focusing on thriving in the next 10 years is something that will only happen with innovation and opportunities that are as well-timed as a great joke.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
In an era of baseball defined by power, Milwaukee is thriving with an old-fashioned approach at the plate that has the Brewers on the verge of the World Series.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
The white and yellow roses planted in old buckets are thriving despite the drought, because tía Fermina cares for them as if they were children.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
