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plenty

PLEN-tee/ˈplɛnti/

6 meanings of plenty

Practice

  1. 1
    pronoun
    A large amount or number of something, more than is needed, as in 'plenty of time' or 'we have plenty'.

    I offered her more cake, but she said she already had plenty.

    Don't worry about supplies for the trip; we've got plenty for everyone.

    UsageUse plenty of before a noun (plenty of time, plenty of chairs), or alone: we have plenty.

    Note

    As a pronoun it can stand alone at the end of a sentence: we've got plenty. With of it takes almost any noun, and it can even turn a countable one into a quantity. Plenty of car for your money means a lot of car, not many cars. That of is what keeps it standard. Dropping it gives the informal "much" use.

  2. 2
    noununcountable
    Abundance, the condition of having more than enough of what is needed, as in 'a land of plenty' or 'times of plenty'.

    The fertile valley brought years of plenty to its farmers.

    She grew up in a time of plenty, never wanting for anything.

    UsageMostly in set phrases: a time of plenty, years of plenty, peace and plenty.

    Similarabundance, prosperity, affluence, bounty, plenitude

    Oppositescarcity, want, poverty, famine

    Note

    Thomas Malthus in 1798 writes of "the plenty of labourers," treating it as a measurable supply.

  3. 3
    determinernonstandard
    Used directly before a noun, without 'of', in informal speech, to mean a lot of, many, or enough.

    Don't hurry, we have plenty time to catch the evening ferry.

    She said there was plenty work left to finish before dark.

    UsageMostly heard in casual speech; in writing, use plenty of (plenty of time, not incorrect: plenty time).

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    sufficientlyadverbCanadaUS
    More than enough for the purpose, stressing that something is sufficient rather than that it is extreme, as in 'plenty warm enough' or 'it's plenty big for us'.

    The hall was plenty large enough to seat all the guests.

    The written instructions were plenty clear for a beginner to follow.

    UsageUsually before an adjective, often with enough or a phrase giving the purpose: plenty big enough, plenty warm for winter.

    Similareasily, amply, enough

    Note

    In Canadian and American English it typically sits before an adjective that already carries enough: plenty big enough, plenty good enough. Delos W. Lovelace's King Kong (1932) has a pier that was "plenty good enough." Enough sets the mark, and plenty says the mark is passed with room to spare.

  2. 5
    veryadverbcolloquialCanadaUS
    Very; to a considerable degree, used as an intensifier.

    He was plenty annoyed by the time the meeting finally ended.

    When he found out we had borrowed his truck without asking, he was plenty mad about it.

    UsageIn this sense, it means very: plenty mad. Best kept to conversation and casual writing.

    Similarvery, really, pretty, quite, mighty

    Note

    As an intensifier the word stops measuring: plenty mad and plenty hilarious mean very mad and very hilarious. Context separates it from the "sufficiently" adverb: plenty big enough, or plenty big for us, says a mark is passed, while plenty mad names no mark at all. A. A. Dowd, writing in 2014, uses it for "plenty hilarious."

  3. 6
    abundantadjectivedated
    Present in great quantity; abundant.
    if reasons were as plenty as blackberries
    1597, Shakespeare, Henry IV
    Note

    An adjective that once sat after be exactly where plentiful sits now. Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I (1597) has "if reasons were as plenty as blackberries," and The American Gardener's Magazine and Register (1836) finds radishes "very plenty." It even compares: more plenty, most plenty. Standard English has dropped it, and it survives only in nonstandard, colloquial speech. In careful writing, choose plentiful, or recast with the pronoun: there is plenty.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Practice

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Origin

This word came through Middle English and Anglo-Norman from Old French "plenté," and ultimately from Latin "plenitas" ("fullness"), from "plenus" ("full, complete"). It traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "full," the same source that gives English "full," and it is related to Latin-based words like "complete," "deplete," and "replete".

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 7 facts