Plethora—the Real Meaning

Plethora—It’s Not What You May Think

If you listen to people speak, you’re bound to hear the word plethora used sooner or later. And when you do, it will probably be used erroneously. Last year, I decided to do an informal self-conducted poll, and, in a thirty-day span, I heard the word used eleven times. Eight of those times the meaning of plethora was not used in the traditional sense. I might add that six of the eleven times were of people using the word on TV or in a movie.

This was not a grievous misuse of the word; in fact, the meaning was used in a way that is quickly becoming an accepted way to use the word—to mean “many” or “a lot.”

As we all know, language changes; it’s inevitable. If you want to be at the forefront of that change, feel free to use it that way, but realize that there may be a lot of people who feel you’re using it wrong.

Here is a definition from Dictionary.com

• overabundance; excess: a plethora of advice and a paucity of assistance

The traditional meaning of the word is “too many, an overabundance, excessive.” The original meaning of plethora almost always carried a negative connotation. You wouldn’t walk into an ice cream shop and say they had a plethora of flavors to choose from. Having a lot of choices, especially when it’s ice cream, is usually not a bad thing.

Plethora of Is Usually Not a Good Thing

An example of the proper, more traditional use would be:

• The pond has a plethora of fish.

What you’re saying when plethora is used that way (assuming it’s the traditional meaning) is that there are so many fish in the pond that it is harmful. Maybe there’s not enough food, or maybe there’s not enough oxygen, but having too many fish is causing a detrimental effect.

The meaning of plethora in this sense is what it was originally intended to mean: “too many, excessive, an overabundance.”

When you use plethora in the traditional sense, you’re implying that there are so many it is causing harm or discomfort (at the minimum).

I might also add that nowadays, the common usage has changed and using plethora to mean “a lot” or “many” is considered acceptable. I won’t guarantee that sticklers of the language won’t consider you wrong but that decision is yours. Take a look at this Ngram chart showing the ten most common words following plethora and you’ll see what I mean. There could be examples where a plethora of the word that follows would apply, but I’d have a difficult time imagining it with some—like money.

As for me, while I don’t consider myself a stickler, I do tend to favor the more traditional usage, so for the foreseeable future, I’ll be using plethora as it was originally intended: too many, or an excessive amount.

If you want more grammar, consider the easy-to-use Simply Put: The Plain English Grammar Guide. It has everything you need for grammar and a good bit on style guide usage. Or check out all my grammar books here.

Tags: editing, grammar, misused words