prolific

adjective

pro·​lif·​ic prə-ˈli-fik 

1

: marked by abundant inventiveness or productivity

a prolific composer

And over the course of her prolific career, [Alice] Walker has gone on to write over 40 genre-spanning books.

—Rayna Reid Rayford

2

: producing young or fruit especially freely : fruitful

The half-inch blooms are round and prolific, borne atop leafy stems.

—Adrian Higgins

3

archaic : causing abundant growth, generation, or reproduction

prolificacy

prə-ˈli-fi-kə-sē 

noun

prolifically

prə-ˈli-fi-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

prolificness

prə-ˈli-fik-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of prolific

• fertile
• rich

Choose the Right Synonym for prolific

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

Examples of prolific in a Sentence

Since [David] Mamet is a prolific writer of Hollywood screenplays, there are today more people who know his work than know that they know it. —Juliet Fleming, Times Literary Supplement, 18 Feb. 2000

The main rival to his pneumonia was the prolific thrush which went into his throat and stomach. —Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, 1993

A writer as established and prolific as Joyce Carol Oates can approach her material in a wealth of ways unavailable to the more plodding. —Jane Smiley, New York Times Book Review, 5 May 1991

a famously prolific author who could produce several works of fiction and nonfiction a year

Recent Examples on the Web

The Dog Stars is the prolific Scott’s next film after 2024’s Gladiator II, and also follows Napoleon (2023), House of Gucci (2021) and The Last Duel (2021) as the 88-year-old British auteur’s other films in the 2020s. — Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 25 Aug. 2026

Then the Valkyries really pressed their advantage with a prolific scoring start to the fourth, pushing the lead to 14 points midway through the period. — Christian Babcock, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026

Those accusations were false, and based on a prolific misunderstanding of where the team gets most of its revenue, who owns the majority of the organization, as well as how much of their television income comes from cable company Spectrum. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2026

Although Gibson essentially integrated American tennis in 1950 and later golf, her prolific career and accolades are often overlooked in the mainstream tennis world. — Matene Toure, PEOPLE, 22 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

French prolifique, from Middle French, from Latin proles + Middle French -figue -fic

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for prolific

• horrific
• pacific
• salvific
• specific
• terrific
• calorific
• conspecific
• hieroglyphic
• honorific
• nonspecific
• scientific
• soporific

Kids Definition

prolific

adjective

pro·​lif·​ic prə-ˈlif-ik 

1

: producing young or fruit in large numbers

a prolific orchard

2

: highly inventive : productive

a prolific writer

prolifically

-ˈlif-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb