plum
Pluralplums
Pluralplums
- 1A soft, juicy, round fruit with smooth purple, red, or yellow skin and one hard seed.
Like a peach, but smaller and with smooth skin instead of fuzzy skin.
She bit into a ripe plum and the juice ran down her chin.
We picked a basket of plums from the tree in the yard.
- 2A soft fruit you can eat, with one big seed, from a tree much like the plum, or the tree itself.
Java plums are small purple fruits from a tree that is not a true plum.
The Java plum in our backyard grows taller than our house.
Note
- 3A dark reddish-purple color, like the skin of the fruit.
A dark purple, almost like a bruise on the skin.
She painted her room a soft plum.
The dress was a rich plum that suited her well.
- 4Having a dark reddish-purple color.
She wore a plum scarf to the party.
The sky turned a plum shade after sunset.
UsageYou can also say plum-colored, which is clearer.
- 5
- 6Very good and much wanted, the best kind of its sort.
Like getting first pick of all the best toys.
She landed a plum role in the new movie.
He got a plum spot near the front of the line.
UsageUsed before a noun: a plum job. A plum dress is a color, but a plum job is a great job.
Similarchoice, prime, coveted, desirable, prize
Oppositeundesirable, menial, lowly
- 7A tree or bush that grows plums.
Like an apple tree, but it grows plums instead of apples.
We planted a young plum near the back fence.
The old plum still gives fruit every summer.
- 8Completely or all the way, used to make a word stronger.
Like saying 'totally' or 'all the way.'
I'm plum worn out after that long hike.
She went plum crazy when she heard the news.
UsagePut it before a word like tired: plum tired. Also spelled plumb.
Similarcompletely, utterly, totally, absolutely, thoroughly
Note
Less common meanings
- 9A raisin or dried grape baked into a pudding or cake.
“Bright boy! here’s a plum for you,” and Polly threw a plump raisin into his mouth.
1870, Louisa May Alcott, An Old-Fashioned GirlHere, plum means a raisin, a dried grape.Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, eating a Christmas pie; he put in his thumb, and he took out a plum, and said, “What a good boy am I!”
1877, Mother Gooose’s Nursery RhymesNote
- 10
- 11
- 12A very large amount of money, or a fortune.
Note
- 13An apricot, or the tree it grows on, counted as one kind of plum.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
It comes from Old English 'plūme', which came ultimately from Latin 'prūnum'. It is a doublet of 'prune'.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Plum comes from Old English plūme. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English plūme was inherited from Proto-West Germanic *plūmā; the Latin borrowing occurred at the earlier Germanic stage. en.wiktionary.org
- Plum and prune are doublets. en.wiktionary.org
It is a spelling of 'plumb' based on how the word sounds.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Plum is a spelling of plumb based on its pronunciation. en.wiktionary.org