Standard Lemma guide

plethora

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: plĕʹthərə
  • Received-Pronunciation: plĕʹdhərə
  • Received-Pronunciation: plĭthôʹrə
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈplɛθəɹə/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈplɛðəɹə/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /plɪˈθɔːɹə/
  • Canada, General-American: plĕʹthərə
  • Canada, General-American: /ˈplɛθəɹə/
  • Canada, General-American: [ˈplɛθɹə]
  • California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈpleθəɹə/
  • Australian, New-Zealand: [ˈpleθɹə]
  • Queensland Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɔːɹə
  • CMU ARPABET: P L EH1 TH ER0 AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: P L AH0 TH AO1 R AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An excessive amount or number; an abundance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • The menu offers a plethora of cuisines from around the world.
  • 1817, Francis Jeffrey, review of Lalla Rookh, in the Edinburgh Review He labours under a plethora of wit and imagination.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Excess of blood in the skin, especially in the face and especially chronically.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

extreme excess

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an embarrassment of riches

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: overplus, superfluity, embarrassment

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: excess, excessiveness, inordinateness

Narrower terms: redundancy, redundance

History

Etymology

From Late Latin plēthōra, from Ancient Greek πληθώρα (plēthṓra, “fullness, satiety”), from πλήθω (plḗthō, “to be full”) + -η (-ē, nominal suffix).

Across languages

Translations

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: изобилие (izobilie) — excess, abundance
  • Bulgarian: излишък (izlišǎk) — excess, abundance
  • Catalan: plètora — excess, abundance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 過多 /过多 (guòduō) — excess, abundance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 過剩 /过剩 (guòshèng) — excess, abundance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 過量 /过量 (guòliàng) — excess, abundance
  • Czech: spousta — excess, abundance
  • Czech: přemíra — excess, abundance
  • Czech: nadbytek — excess, abundance
  • Danish: overflod — excess, abundance
  • Dutch: overmaat — excess, abundance
  • Finnish: yletön määrä — excess, abundance
  • Finnish: ylenpalttisuus — excess, abundance
  • French: pléthore — excess, abundance
  • Galician: plétora — excess, abundance
  • German: Fülle — excess, abundance
  • German: Übermaß — excess, abundance
  • Greek: πληθώρα (plithóra) — excess, abundance
  • Hebrew: שָׁלָל (shalál) — excess, abundance
  • Hungarian: túltengés — excess, abundance
  • Hungarian: özön — excess, abundance
  • Italian: pletora — excess, abundance
  • Latin: plethora — excess, abundance
  • Macedonian: изо́билство (izóbilstvo) — excess, abundance
  • Macedonian: мно́штво (mnóštvo) — excess, abundance
  • Māori: maruru — excess, abundance
  • Norwegian Bokmål: overflod — excess, abundance
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: overflod — excess, abundance
  • Portuguese: pletora — excess, abundance
  • Portuguese: plêiade — excess, abundance
  • Portuguese: profusão — excess, abundance
  • Portuguese: abundância — excess, abundance
  • Portuguese: infinidade — excess, abundance
  • Portuguese: série — excess, abundance
  • Russian: изоби́лие (izobílije) — excess, abundance
  • Russian: оби́лие (obílije) — excess, abundance
  • Russian: избы́ток (izbýtok) — excess, abundance
  • Spanish: plétora — excess, abundance
  • Swedish: överflöd — excess, abundance
  • Turkish: çokluk — excess, abundance
  • Turkish: doluluk — excess, abundance
  • Turkish: fazlalık — excess, abundance
  • Ukrainian: надмірність (nadmirnistʹ) — excess, abundance
  • Ukrainian: надлишок (nadlyšok) — excess, abundance
  • Finnish: punoitus — excess of blood in the skin
  • Norwegian Bokmål: blodoverfylling — excess of blood in the skin
  • Ukrainian: повнокров'я (povnokrovʺja) — excess of blood in the skin