Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

fruitful

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of fruitful

1 producing abundantly

  • a very fruitful tree that gives us plenty of apples every year
Synonyms of fruitful

cornucopian, fat, fecund, fertile, fructuous, lush, luxuriant, productive, prolific, rich
Words Related to fruitful

bearing, generative, producing, yielding

abounding, abundant, bountiful

copious, generous, liberal, plenteous, plentiful, plenitudinous

blooming, bursting, flourishing, swarming, teeming, thriving

creative, inventive, original
Near Antonyms of fruitful

meager (or meagre), scant, scanty, skimp, skimpy, spare, sparse
Antonyms of fruitful

barren, dead, infertile, sterile, unfertile, unfruitful, unproductive

2 producing or capable of producing a desired result

  • I hope your efforts to find that missing package are fruitful
Synonyms of fruitful

effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, operative, potent, productive
Words Related to fruitful

hyperefficient, ultraefficient

adequate, capable, competent

accomplished, adept, consummate, experienced, expert, masterly, practiced (also practised), proficient, skilled, skillful, versed, veteran, virtuoso

cogent, convincing, killer, sound, striking, telling, valid

active, dynamic

useful, working

applicable, feasible, functional, practicable, practical, realizable, usable (also useable), workable
Near Antonyms of fruitful

counterproductive

incapable, incompetent, inexperienced, inexpert, unqualified, unseasoned, unskilled, unskillful

abortive, bootless, futile, vain

empty, hollow, idle, pointless, unavailing, unprofitable, unsuccessful

inoperative, worthless
Antonyms of fruitful

fruitless, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficient, inoperative, unfruitful, unproductive, useless

Synonym Discussion of fruitful

fertile, fecund, fruitful, prolific mean producing or capable of producing offspring or fruit. fertile implies the power to reproduce in kind or to assist in reproduction and growth
    • fertile soil
; applied figuratively, it suggests readiness of invention and development.
    • a fertile imagination
fecund emphasizes abundance or rapidity in bearing fruit or offspring.
    • a fecund herd
fruitful adds to fertile and fecund the implication of desirable or useful results.
    • fruitful research
prolific stresses rapidity of spreading or multiplying by or as if by natural reproduction.
    • a prolific writer

Learn More about fruitful

  1. Dictionary: Definition of fruitful Spanish Central: Translation of fruitful Nglish: Translation of fruitful for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fruitful for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up fruitful? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show comments hide comments

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games