prosperous

adjective

pros·​per·​ous ˈprä-sp(ə-)rəs 

1

: auspicious, favorable

2

a

: marked by success or economic well-being

b

: enjoying vigorous and healthy growth : flourishing

prosperously adverb

prosperousness noun

Synonyms

• booming
• boomy
• flourishing
• golden
• halcyon
• healthy
• lush
• palmy
• prospering
• roaring
• successful
• thriving

Examples of prosperous in a Sentence

The company had a prosperous year.

He predicted a prosperous future.

Recent Examples on the Web

What this means is that formerly slow hours and days for restaurants, movie theaters, amusement parks, and countless other entertainment options not yet formed will gradually be erased by prosperous people in possession of both time and money at varying times, but seven days per week. —John Tamny, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024

Twelve years of Netanyahu’s leadership had seemingly made Israel more secure and prosperous, with deep trade and defense ties across the world. —Anshel Pfeffer, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2024

If the goal of foreign policy is to help create a peaceful and prosperous world, the foreign policy establishment needs to fundamentally rethink its assumptions. —Bernie Sanders, Foreign Affairs, 18 Mar. 2024

Essentially for every 10 people living in a prosperous area in Colorado, one lives in a distressed area. —Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post, 10 Mar. 2024

On social media, particularly youtube, prominent influencers promoted the settlement as a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire valuable land in Ghana, a country marketed as a prosperous African nation on the rise. —Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 25 Feb. 2024

The biggest federal-state fault line pits the more prosperous south against Mr. Modi’s support base in the north. —Hari Kumar, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2024

The strategy has helped make Apple the world’s most prosperous company, with annual revenue of nearly $400 billion and, until recently, a market value of more than $3 trillion. —Michael Liedtke, Lindsay Whitehurst, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Mar. 2024

This tool points low-wage workers to more prosperous careers In the meantime, the Federal Reserve banks of Philadelphia and Cleveland created an interactive tool called the Occupational Mobility Explorer that was released at the end of 2020. —Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 8 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin prosperus "agreeable to one's wishes, successful, (of omens) propitious" (going back to *pro-sparo-, from pro- pro- entry 2 + *sparo-, going back to Indo-European *sph₁-ró- "thriving") + -ous -ous — more at speed entry 1

Note: An apparently traditional explanation is recorded by the fourth/fifth century grammarian Nonius Marcellus, namely, that prosperus was in origin from the phrase prō spērē "in conformity with one's hope" (spērē being taken as a variant of spē, ablative of spēs "hope"), though this may best be regarded as a folk etymology. It fails to account for the short e in prosperus.

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

prosperous

adjective

pros·​per·​ous ˈpräs-p(ə-)rəs 

1

: having or showing success or financial good fortune

2

: strong and healthy in growth

prosperously adverb