thrive

[ thrahyv ]
See synonyms for thrive on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),thrived or throve [throhv], /θroʊv/, thrived or thriv·en [thriv-uhn], /ˈθrɪv ən/, thriv·ing.
  1. to prosper; be fortunate or successful.

  2. to grow or develop vigorously; flourish: The children thrived in the country.

Verb Phrases
  1. thrive on, to do particularly well under specified conditions: Some plants are adapted to thrive on rainwater alone.She thrives on drama and chaos.

Origin of thrive

1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English thriven, from Old Norse thrīfast “to thrive,” reflexive of thrīfa “to grasp”

synonym study For thrive

1. See succeed.

Other words for thrive

Other words from thrive

  • thriv·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use thrive in a sentence

  • The baby had thrived; as placid, laughing a little thing as if its mother had never known sorrow.

    Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
  • The money went into the pockets of the Admiralty clerks and paymasters, who thrived on wholesale and shameless peculation.

  • Little Susy and her father thrived on London life, but after a time it wore on Mrs. Clemens.

  • He thrived and grew to manhood and he is now living, sixty-nine years of age, in California.

  • His house had not thrived, and his only child, a little girl, was left altogether without provision.

    La Mere Bauche | Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for thrive

thrive

/ (θraɪv) /


verbthrives, thriving, thrived, throve, thrived or thriven (ˈθrɪvən) (intr)
  1. to grow strongly and vigorously

  2. to do well; prosper

Origin of thrive

1
C13: from Old Norse thrīfask to grasp for oneself, reflexive of thrīfa to grasp, of obscure origin

Derived forms of thrive

  • thriver, noun
  • thriving, adjective
  • thrivingly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012