| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| rich |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  r ch |
| ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: rich·er, rich·est
1. Possessing great material wealth: “Now that he was rich he was not thought ignorant any more, but simply eccentric” (Mavis Gallant). 2. Having great worth or value: a rich harvest of grain. 3. Magnificent; sumptuous: a rich brocade. 4a. Having an abundant supply: rich in ideas. b. Abounding, especially in natural resources: rich land. 5. Meaningful and significant: “a rich sense of the transaction between writer and reader” (William Zinsser). 6. Very productive and therefore financially profitable: rich seams of coal. 7a. Containing a large amount of choice ingredients, such as butter, sugar, or eggs, and therefore unusually heavy or sweet: a rich dessert. b. Having or exuding a strong or pungent aroma: “Texas air is so rich you can nourish off it like it was food” (Edna Ferber). 8a. Pleasantly full and mellow: a rich tenor voice. b. Warm and strong in color: a rich brown velvet. 9. Containing a large proportion of fuel to air: a rich gas mixture. 10. Informal Highly amusing. | | NOUN: | (used with a pl. verb) Wealthy people considered as a group. Often used with the: “Were there, indeed, a sure appeal to the mercies of the rich, the calamities of the poor might be less intolerable” (Charlotte Smith). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English riche, from Old French (of Germanic origin) and from Old English r ce, strong, powerful; see reg- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | rich ly —ADVERB
richness —NOUN
| | SYNONYMS: | rich, affluent, flush1, loaded, moneyed, wealthy These adjectives mean having an abundant supply of money, property, or possessions of value: a rich executive; an affluent banker; a speculator flush with cash; not merely rich but loaded; moneyed heirs; wealthy corporations. | | ANTONYM: | poor
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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