thriving
Americanadjective
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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.
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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.
Thriving thanks to their strategic geographical position, strong state backing and leading carriers, huge air hubs in the Gulf oil kingdoms have been shaken by the conflict over Iran.
From Barron's • Mar. 2, 2026
Nottingham City Council is now working alongside Thriving Nottingham and Change Grow Live to deliver its two-year anti-vaping pilot.
From BBC • Jan. 4, 2026
Appeared in the December 19, 2025, print edition as 'Wells Fargo Investment Bank Unit Is Thriving'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
Tamara Tsaturyan is the owner and writer of Thriving In Parenting, a website focused on providing simple tips for busy parents – easy and healthy recipes, home decor and organization ideas and all things parenting.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024
I once read in The Thriving Executive by R. J. Sherman that the number one way to sustain a job in this day and age is to make yourself indispensable.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
