Definition
Abundant means there is more than enough — the Latin abundare pictures water 'overflowing' a vessel. An abundant harvest fills every barn, abundant evidence leaves no room for doubt, abundant wildlife crowds a healthy reef. The word carries a quiet generosity: where something is abundant, no one has to compete for it, which is precisely what makes it the opposite of scarce. Abundance can be squandered, too — the richest fisheries are the ones we deplete first.
Examples
- Rainforests support an abundant variety of life found nowhere else.
- There is now abundant evidence that the treatment works.
- Solar energy is abundant, but storing it remains the real problem.
Collocations
abundant evidence·an abundant supply·abundant resources·abundantly clear
Synonyms
plentiful·ample·copious·profuse·bountiful
Antonyms
scarce·sparse·meager
Word family
abundance (noun)·abundantly (adverb)
In TOEFL & IELTS
A high-value adjective for IELTS Writing — 'abundant evidence/resources' strengthens any claim — and for TOEFL ecology passages about abundant versus scarce species. The adverb 'abundantly' lives in the fixed phrase 'abundantly clear'. Learn it as the natural opposite of 'scarce', a pairing reading questions love to test.