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

• 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

Law is a sector that can prosper in hostile environments—litigation thrives during both prosperity and adversity, and downtimes can be a boon for countercyclical practices like bankruptcy and restructuring. —Liane Jackson, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025

California’s vast network of reservoirs to capture water and canals to deliver it was originally created to help farmers prosper. —Dan Walters, Mercury News, 25 June 2025

The world is large enough that China...and India can grow and prosper. —Christopher Hale, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 June 2025

And on Iran, Trump has for weeks teased the possibility of a nuclear agreement coming together and talked up the idea of Tehran prospering economically. —Brett Samuels, The Hill, 4 June 2025

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