- present participle of thrive.
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.
So-called negative-beta stocks are thriving and offer a way to ride out volatility events, says one strategist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
We’ve also been told we can have it all: carefully developed careers, balanced retirement accounts, a thriving social life in which plans actually make it out of the group chat—and, oh, by the way, fertility.
From Slate ● Aug. 29, 2026
Right now, the former Trump Taj Mahal, which fell into bankruptcy and disrepair under its namesake, is now thriving in Atlantic City as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
“Why am I not thriving? And my mom was like, ‘Oh, it’s called house poor.’”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
With all the warm weather, the plants should have been thriving.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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.
