wealth

noun

ˈwelth How to pronounce wealth (audio)
 also  ˈweltth
1
: abundance of valuable material possessions or resources
2
: abundant supply : profusion
3
a
: all property that has a money value or an exchangeable value
b
: all material objects that have economic utility
especially : the stock of useful goods having economic value in existence at any one time
national wealth
4
obsolete : weal, welfare

Examples of wealth in a Sentence

a nation that has acquired great wealth someone whose sole goal is the accumulation of wealth Her personal wealth is estimated to be around $10 billion. What percentage of the national wealth is spent on health care? I was impressed by the wealth of choices. Libraries offer a wealth of information.
Recent Examples on the Web While Black non-union households hold median wealth of $61,540, their union peers have about $164,557. Chloe Berger, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2024 Some officials, diplomats and experts worry, for instance, that seizing Russian assets could stop sovereign wealth funds, investors or central banks from investing in European assets. Beatriz Ríos, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024 In other words, Paulson has the time, wealth, and resources to build her downlines and to present a façade of luxury and success that other sellers might envy and want to emulate. Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024 Denmark, Norway and the Baltic states bordering Russia — Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia — are committing a greater proportion of their wealth to the war at more than 1% of their GDP. Henrik Pettersson, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024 If a small sliver of that wealth increase is donated to a wave of new tech nonprofit startups focused on maximum social impact, not maximum financial return, this could create many thousands of jobs. Jim Fruchterman, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024 The Middle Eastern nation is pursuing those goals through its sovereign wealth fund, which has assets of more than $900 billion. Rob Copeland, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024 After her divorce from Jeff Bezos in 2019, Scott received a 4% stake in the company, boosting her wealth and personal net worth. Simrin Singh, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2024 Even today’s extreme wealth concentration is on par with the Gilded Age. TIME, 18 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wealth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English welthe, from wele weal

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Time Traveler
The first known use of wealth was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near wealth

Cite this Entry

“Wealth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wealth. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

wealth

noun
1
: a great amount of money or possessions : affluence
2
: a large amount or number : profusion
a wealth of detail

More from Merriam-Webster on wealth

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