Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An abundance or excess of something.
- noun An excess of blood in the circulatory system or in one organ or area.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In pathology, overfullness of blood; a redundant fullness of the blood-vessels.
- noun Overfullness in any respect; superabundance.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Overfullness; especially, excessive fullness of the blood vessels; repletion; that state of the blood vessels or of the system when the blood exceeds a healthy standard in quantity; hyperæmia; -- opposed to
anæmia . - noun State of being overfull; excess; superabundance.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
excessive amount ornumber ; anabundance . - noun medicine, archaic An
excess ofred blood cells or bodilyhumours .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun extreme excess
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Heck, he even correctly used the word plethora'' twice in answering questions from reporters.
SI.com 2011
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Stinky Peet says: erswi: a plethora is what women pee out of, silly rabbit.
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Don't you just see a guzzillion calendars stacked up when you see the word plethora?
Tagged, But Quick Save- What About Promotions? Studio Marcy - Marcy Lamberson 2009
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Learn about it. just now, -0 / +1Just by the way, when you use the word plethora you are automatically viewed as an *****.
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Stagnation of the, blood was supposed to be a fertile cause of diseases, and such diseases were supposed to arise mostly from "plethora" -- an all-important element in Stahl's therapeutics.
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In “Politics and the English Language,” Orwell famously tagged a plethora of “ready-made phrases” that the lazy writer — I include myself here — will often be tempted to employ to do his thinking for him.
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KATHARINE NEWLIN BURT, also certain minor points, notably the fact that the story, though by no means badly told, suffers from what I can only call a plethora of plot.
Punch or the London Charivari, Volume 158, March 24, 1920. Various
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The death sentence the late Philip Johnson pronounced on skyscrapers 15 years ago was directed at the then-prevailing North American skyscraper form, namely the plethora of minimalist boxes of stultifying banality.
Thestar.com - Home Page David Olive 2011
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What do call a plethora of newsreaders the BBC of course.
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What do call a plethora of newsreaders the BBC of course.
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In the 18th and 19th centuries physicians blamed menopause on plethora (the retention of blood) or, later, on the nerves.
A time of change: a history of our understanding of the menopause 2022
benefactor commented on the word plethora
I think much credit for plethora's popularity should definitely go to the movie "The Three Amigos". Read:
Jefe: I have put many beautiful piñatas in the storeroom, each of them filled with little surprises!
El Guapo: Many piñatas?
Jefe: Oh yes, many!
El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora of piñatas?
Jefe: A what?
El Guapo: A plethora.
Jefe: ...Oh yes. You have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora!
Jefe: Forgive me, El Guapo, I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education, but could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?
www.benfranzini.com
December 7, 2006
uselessness commented on the word plethora
Good quote, but this word is ridiculously overrated. I've grown tired of hearing all the kiddies at school saying it to one another as though it were a mark of intelligence. It's almost as bad as "epitome." Both words should be blacklisted for ten years, and then gloriously rediscovered.
December 13, 2006
uselessness commented on the word plethora
I've already commented on the overratedness of this word, but I should add that it's especially annoying when people emphasize the second syllable. It's "PLETH er uh," not "pleth OR uh."
May 22, 2007
selliebee commented on the word plethora
The Three Amigos. I should own this movie.
October 22, 2007
reesetee commented on the word plethora
Sellibee, I think everyone should own a copy of that movie. :-)
October 23, 2007
pheiticeira commented on the word plethora
Actually I think the association can be traced to the abundantly unfunny Dane Cook who used this it 4 times during a recent tour.
October 26, 2007
iangilman commented on the word plethora
As seen in a Cracked's '9 Words That Don't Mean What You Think'.
November 26, 2007
mollusque commented on the word plethora
The original meaning of "plethora" was overabundance of one of the humors, especially blood. Treatments included bleeding the patient, using leeches. So "plethora" is merely continuing its course of amelioration.
Has anywordie done a list of ameliorations or pejorations?
November 26, 2007
asativum commented on the word plethora
It essentially comprises the epitome of words that a plethora of people get wrong...
January 27, 2008
plethora commented on the word plethora
*reads comments*
*reads tag*
*wibbles*
April 22, 2008
sionnach commented on the word plethora
If you started with a plethora of piñatas, but your stock was decimated in a freak fire-ant infestation, would what you had left still constitute a plethora?
I like the term boatload myself. Or oodles. Or scads.
April 22, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word plethora
Don't wibble, plethora. Your username gives good mouthfeel, no matter what Uselessness tagged it. :) (Or, you know, wibble all you want, as long as it makes you feel good.)
April 23, 2008
plethora commented on the word plethora
I don't think that you actually can have a plethora of piñatas. You can never have too many piñatas, in my humble opinion.
April 23, 2008
bilby commented on the word plethora
Can we have a piñata of plethoras then?
April 23, 2008
plethora commented on the word plethora
You want to beat me with a stick, bilby?
April 23, 2008
bilby commented on the word plethora
A note slipped from the folder. Your auntie sent it on to Uncle Jim. His clever grandson posted it on the internet. About your rabid putsch for control of the International Piñatomasochism League.
Sorry dude.
April 23, 2008
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word plethora
Hey--'plethora' is on the list of 100 Most Beautiful Words as chosen by Dr. Goodword (Robert Beard), who has been making dictionaries, creating word lists, and writing poetry for 40 years.
http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/100_most_beautiful_words.html
July 28, 2009
bilby commented on the word plethora
Undies, we discussed his list a while ago on beautiful.
July 28, 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word plethora
oh...you did? I guess you all knew about it then. tee hee *blushes*
July 28, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word plethora
And... git.
July 28, 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word plethora
Sorry...
July 29, 2009
bilby commented on the word plethora
Uhh, I hope you realise chained_bear was referring to Dr Goodword, Possibubbles. By all means share your finds here, no harm in that at all.
July 30, 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word plethora
Oh, right. Thanks for that clarification! :-)
July 30, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word plethora
Oh, ha, ha, ha!! I'm sorry for any discomfort, P_U, but this exchange kind of made me smile. :) Absolutely post your wordie (and Wordie) beautifulness here.
July 30, 2009
bilby commented on the word plethora
"Although there is a strangely monotonous plethora of incident, the plots play continual variations upon a few themes and personages."
- Carl Van Doren, 'The American Novel'.
September 20, 2009