prosper

verb

pros·​per ˈprä-spər 

prospered; prospering ˈprä-sp(ə-)riŋ 

intransitive verb

1

: to succeed in an enterprise or activity

especially : to achieve economic success

2

: to become strong and flourishing

transitive verb

: to cause to succeed or thrive

Synonyms of prosper

• thrive
• flourish

Examples of prosper in a Sentence

She prospered as a real estate agent.

He hopes his business will prosper.

No crop can prosper in this heat.

Recent Examples on the Web

For much of the intervening period, Bangladesh prospered. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 28 Jan. 2026

Which is a long way of saying that Live Nation prospers at least somewhat because its executives uniquely saw a future in the concert space that its competitors did not. —John Tamny, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026

Research by the American archeologists Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt, among others, suggests that the islanders continued to prosper, and to build stone platforms for their statues, well beyond that date. —Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026

Now, the former inmate is prospering as the founder/president/CEO of I Scoop Poop, his business based in Mansfield. —Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English prosperen, borrowed from Anglo-French prosperer "to promote, foster, be fortunate or successful," borrowed from Latin prosperāre "to cause to succeed, further" (Medieval Latin also, in passive, "to be granted success, succeed"), verbal derivative of prosperus "agreeable to one's wishes, successful, prosperous"

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Kids Definition

prosper

verb

pros·​per ˈpräs-pər 

prospered; prospering -p(ə-)riŋ 

1

: to succeed or make money in something one is doing

2

: thrive sense 1, flourish

3

: to cause to become prosperous