affluent
Americanadjective
-
having an abundance of wealth, property, or other material goods; prosperous; rich.
an affluent person.
-
abounding in anything; abundant.
- Synonyms:
- teeming
-
flowing freely.
an affluent fountain.
noun
-
a tributary stream.
-
an affluent person.
a luxurious resort appealing to young affluents.
adjective
-
rich; wealthy
-
abundant; copious
-
flowing freely
noun
Synonym Usage
See rich.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonaffluentadjective
-
subaffluentadjective
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superaffluentadjective
-
unaffluentadjective
-
affluentlyadverb
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subaffluentlyadverb
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superaffluentlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of affluent
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin affluent- (stem of affluēns “rich”; originally present participle of affluere ), equivalent to af- af- + flu- “flow” + -ent -ent
Explanation
You know you're driving through an affluent neighborhood when you see large houses, perfect landscaping, and expensive cars. Use affluent to describe wealthy people or areas. In Middle English, affluent meant "abundant, flowing," from Old French, from Latin affluēns, from affluere "to abound in," from the prefix ad- "to, at" plus fluere "to flow." The meaning of "abundant, flowing" is still seen in phrases such as "affluent prose." But mostly, when you use the word affluent, the thing understood to be flowing is cash.
Vocabulary lists containing affluent
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
More affluent buyers also have more for-sale inventory to choose from.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 9, 2026
On a tree-lined street in the affluent Duboce Triangle residential neighbourhood of San Francisco, the top half of a white, Edwardian-era, detached house was drawing visitors from prospective buyers.
From BBC • Jul. 8, 2026
"The gains... point to a world that kept building wealth, deepening its affluent population and extending a long-running upward trend."
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
Welltower also gained an edge by concentrating on the industry’s most lucrative segment: upscale communities serving affluent seniors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
They owned their own home in a safe, affluent neighborhood.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
