Thrive Meaning
/θɹaɪv/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo grow or increase stature; to grow vigorously or luxuriantly; to enjoy a state of excellent health and well-being; to flourish.
verbTo increase in wealth or success; to prosper, be profitable.
Sentence Examples
Pop artists thrive on the adulation of their loyal fans.
First thrive and then take a wife.
New businesses thrive in this area.
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the fertile soil with plenty of rain, the crops will ____ and produce a large harvest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
These plants will ____ only if they are kept in a very sunny and well-watered spot in the garden today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English thryven, thriven, from Old Norse þrífa (“to seize, grasp, take hold, prosper”), from Proto-Germanic *þrībaną (“to seize, prosper”), from Proto-Indo-European *trep-, *terp- (“to satisfy, enjoy”). Cognate with Swedish trivas, Danish trives, Norwegian Bokmål trives.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"“It seems to me, reverend father,” said the knight, “that the small morsels which you eat, together with this holy, but somewhat thin beverage, have thriven with you marvellously.”"
— 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
"So, on I went. I think I never saw / Such starved ignoble nature; nothing throve: / For flowers - as well expect a cedar grove!"
— 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section X:
"Dwarves had not passed that way for many years, but Gandalf had, and he knew how evil and danger had grown and thriven in the Wild, since the dragons had driven men from the lands, and the goblins had spread in secret after the battle of the Mines of Moria."
— 1937, J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 4, in The Hobbit:
"The growing things jumbled themselves together into a dense thicket; so tensely earnest were things about growing in Skedans that everything linked with everything else, hurrying to grow to the limit of its own capacity; weeds and weaklings alike throve in the rich moistness."
— 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 3, in Klee Wyck:
"Despite a thriving global computer security industry that is projected to reach $79 billion in revenues next year, and the fact that in 2002 Microsoft itself began an intense corporatewide effort to improve the security of its software, Internet security has continued to deteriorate globally."
— 2009 February 15, John Markoff, “Do We Need a New Internet?”, in The New York Times:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the fertile soil with plenty of rain, the crops will ____ and produce a large harvest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
These plants will ____ only if they are kept in a very sunny and well-watered spot in the garden today.