different between impecunious vs affluent

English

Etymology

From im- +? pecunious, from Latin pec?ni?sus, from pec?nia (“money”) + -?sus (“full of”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /??m.p??kju?.ni.?s/, /??m.p??kju?.ni.?s/
• Rhymes: -u?ni?s

Adjective

impecunious (not comparable)

1. lacking money [from 1596]
   • 1875 March 25, William S. Gilbert, Trial by Jury:

     When I, good friends, was called to the bar,

     I'd an appetite fresh and hearty,

     But I was, as many young barristers are,

     An impecunious party.

   • February 1896, Ground-swells, by Jeannette H. Walworth, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine; page 183:

     "Then what became of her?"

     "Her? Which 'her'? The park is full of 'hers.'"

     "The lady with the green feathers in her hat. A big Gainsborough hat. I am quite sure it was Miss Hartuff."

     "Not improbably. I presume she does sometimes take the air. And possibly she may be the happy owner of a Gainsborough hat with green feathers."

     "Don't be frivolous, please. She was in that victoria."

     "Then perhaps she was too impecunious to drive both ways."

   • 1919, P. G. Wodehouse, "Leave it to Jeeves" in My Man Jeeves:

     [I]t would be a simple matter, sir, to find some impecunious author who would be glad to do the actual composition of the volume for a small fee.

Synonyms

• (lacking money): poor, penniless
• See also Thesaurus:impoverished

Related terms

Translations

English

Etymology

Middle French affluent, from Latin affluentem, accusative singular of afflu?ns, present active participle of afflu? (“flow to or towards; overflow with”), from ad (“to, towards”) + flu? (“flow”) (cognate via latter to fluid, flow). Sense of “wealthy” (plentiful flow of goods) c. 1600, which also led to nominalization affluence.

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • IPA^(key): /?æf.lu.?nt/

• (US)
  • enPR: ?f'lo?o-?nt, IPA^(key): /?æflu??nt/
  • enPR: ?-flo?o'?nt, ?-flo?o'?nt, IPA^(key): /æ?flu??nt/, /??flu??nt/
  • Although the pronunciation with second-syllable stress does occur in educated U.S. usage, it is appreciably less common than the pronunciation with first-syllable stress and is regarded as unacceptable by many American speakers.

Noun

affluent (plural affluents)

1. Somebody who is wealthy.
   • 1994, Philip D. Cooper, Health care marketing: a foundation for managed quality (page 183)

     The affluents are most similar to the professional want-it-alls in their reasons for preferring specific hospitals and in their demographic characteristics.

2. A stream or river flowing into a larger river or into a lake; a tributary stream; a tributary.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:moneybags

Translations

Adjective

affluent (comparative more affluent, superlative most affluent)

1. Abundant; copious; plenteous.
2. (by extension) Abounding in goods or riches; having a moderate level of material wealth.

   They were affluent, but aspired to true wealth.

   The Upper East Side is an affluent neighborhood in New York City.

3. (dated) Tributary.
4. (obsolete) Flowing to; flowing abundantly.
   • 1672 Gideon Harvey, Morbus Anglicus, Or, The Anatomy of Consumptions

     affluent blood

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wealthy

Antonyms

• indigent

Derived terms

• affluence
• affluently

Translations

References

French

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.fly.??/

Adjective

affluent (feminine singular affluente, masculine plural affluents, feminine plural affluentes)

1. tributary

Noun

affluent m (plural affluents)

1. tributary; affluent

Related terms

• affluence
• affluer

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.fly/

Verb

affluent

1. third-person plural present indicative of affluer
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of affluer

Further reading

• “affluent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

affluent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of afflu?