prosperous

adj — 3 senses

prosperous

adj

US /ˈpɹɑs.pə.ɹəs/ · UK /ˈpɹɒs.p(ə.)ɹəs/

Etymology From Middle French prospereus, from Old French prosperer, from Latin prosperō (“to cause to succeed”), from Old Latin pro spere (“according to expectation”), from pro (“for”) + spes (“hope”).

1

Characterized by success.

  • Trading Babe Ruth was far more prosperous for the Yankees than for the Red Sox.
2

Well off; affluent.

  • He was raised in a very prosperous household.
  • He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many homes were shanties, how many husbands were drunk and wives socked, and how many children were bullied, abused or abandoned.1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Eternal City”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 428:
3

Favorable.

  • He chose a prosperous lottery number that evening.
  • So draw him home to those that mourn ⁠In vain; a favourable speed ⁠Ruffle thy mirror’d mast, and lead Thro’ prosperous floods his holy urn.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto IX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
Synonyms
successful, affluent, rich, well off, well-to-do, wealthy, favorable, lucky, bustling, flourishing, fortunate, privileged, prosperous, roaring, thriving, wealful
Antonyms
failed, improsperous, speedless, unfortunate, unsuccessful, unthriving
Derived terms
improsperous, overprosperous, prosperity, prosperously, prosperousness, semiprosperous, superprosperous, unprosperous
Related terms
prosper, auspicious
Hyponyms
wealthy

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.