John MuirPamela N. Danzinger
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Visualize with us: coffers overflowing, a cash flow more than adequate, assets that are fluid, an elderly duck in a top hat diving into a pool of gold coins. The images conjured reflect the essence of the word affluent. Based on the Latin verb fluere, meaning "to flow," affluent is all about flow. (The same image is echoed in other fluere descendants, such as confluence, fluctuate, fluid, influence, mellifluous, and superfluous.) The flowing of goods or riches wasn't the word's first concern, however; 16th century print examples of affluent tend to be about the abundance of such intangibles as "goodness" and "spirit." In the 17th century, the flow suggested by affluent varied greatly: streams, poisons, estates, and blood were all described with the word. In modern use, affluent most often describes wealthy people (or ducks), or places where wealthy people live.
Synonyms
Examples of affluent in a Sentence
Frances Percival, Saveur, March 2008
A recent crop of books and articles give voice to this complaint. They happen to be written by journalists who are also well-educated and affluent mothers, but when it comes to parental discontent they are not alone.
—Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, Commonweal, 16 June 2006
The Bay Area, which encompasses the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, as well as surrounding areas, is one of the nation's most affluent regions: More than 40% of the area's residents have annual household income of at least $75,000, versus only 25% in the country's other top 50 markets, according to Scarborough Research.
—Eileen Davis Hudson et al., Editor & Publisher, 1 Oct. 2001
His family was more affluent than most.
he is affluent and can afford to send his children to the best schools
Noun
the Nipigon and the St. Louis rivers are affluents of Lake Superior
Karin Klein, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
Critics questioned whether police would have responded differently if the shooting occurred in a more affluent area.
—Lea Skene, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Nov. 2024
Byprarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 30 Oct. 2024
Prospects for luxury spending has worsened since June’s survey among a comparable sample of 400 affluents.
—Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Affluent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affluent. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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