plentiful

plentiful, plenteous, ample, abundant, copious denote in common more than adequate or sufficient yet not in excess.

Something is plentiful or plenteous of which there is great or rich supply; plenteous is the more bookish term

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it is also a zone of plentiful food and therefore able to support an extensive fauna— Dowdeswell

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plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cleanse from ev'ry sin— Wesley

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Something is ample which is generously sufficient to satisfy a definite requirement

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ample apologies indeed for fifteen years of persecution— Macaulay

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their mother's fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply the deficiency of his— Austen

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there would be an ample buffet available until the last guest left the premises— Lucius Beebe

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Something is abundant which is very plentiful or of which there is an unusually large supply

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his abundant vitality— Bennett

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the many small denominational colleges so abundant throughout the Middle West— G. P. Merriliy

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Abundant sometimes implies profusion

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abundant beautiful bright tresses— Meredith

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we have lived in a broad and abundant land, and ... we have made it flourish— Roosevelt

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Something is copious which is marked by great abundance; the term is especially applicable when emphasis is to be put on largeness of supply rather than fullness or richness. It is therefore not always interchangeable with the other words

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a copious supply of food

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there was a copious crop of potatoes this year

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copious eating and still more copious drinking— Huxley

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washed down with copious drafts of beer— Green Peyton

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In respect to language copious often implies profusion of words, richness of vocabulary, or fullness of information

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declaimers of a copious vein— Berkeley

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French, English, or any other copious language— Hobbes

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be copious and distinct, and tell me a great deal of your mind— Johnson

}

Analogous words: fruitful, prolific (see FERTILE): sumptuous, opulent, *luxurious: *profuse, lavish, prodigal

Antonyms: scanty, scant