Synonym Chooser

How is the word fecund distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of fecund are fertile, fruitful, and prolific. While all these words mean "producing or capable of producing offspring or fruit," fecund emphasizes abundance or rapidity in bearing fruit or offspring.

a fecund herd

When is it sensible to use fertile instead of fecund?

The synonyms fertile and fecund are sometimes interchangeable, but fertile implies the power to reproduce in kind or to assist in reproduction and growth; applied figuratively, it suggests readiness of invention and development.

fertile soil
a fertile imagination

How does the word fruitful relate to other synonyms for fecund?

Fruitful adds to fertile and fecund the implication of desirable or useful results.

fruitful research

When would prolific be a good substitute for fecund?

The words prolific and fecund can be used in similar contexts, but prolific stresses rapidity of spreading or multiplying by or as if by natural reproduction.

a prolific writer

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fecund Others omit her altogether, capturing the natural realm unblemished by human presence, a fecund environment dotted with snakes and birds and fungi. Ana Karina Zatarain, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2024 Granting all perturbation and backsliding, generous lives had been lived on that fecund soil, and a generous spirit inhered in it. Marilynne Robinson, The New York Review of Books, 12 Oct. 2023 This also happened to be one of the most creatively fecund periods in the city’s history. Ned Resnikoff, The New Republic, 2 Sep. 2023 State officials say their own surveys put the figure at 0.89, a rate just above that of South Korea, the least fecund nation in the world. Sameer Yasir, New York Times, 29 May 2023 See All Example Sentences for fecund
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fecund
Adjective
  • In it, 1930s Mississippi is seen as a burgeoning and fertile place where blues music is created, as characters perform in moving cars and a juke joint is thrown together for the community to enjoy.
    Dan Heching, CNN Money, 10 May 2025
  • The goal is to create a fertile, well-draining environment that supports strong root establishment.
    Debbie Wolfe, Popular Science, 8 May 2025
Adjective
  • The volcano is a prolific erupter in part because of its location, Chadwick said.
    Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2025
  • The original 7th Heaven, which aired for 11 seasons across the CW and the CW, marked one of the last hits of prolific producer Aaron Spelling whose library is owned by CBS Studios.
    Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 19 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Fecund.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fecund. Accessed 25 May. 2025.

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