Plenty vs Enough - What's the difference?
plenty | enough |
A more than adequate amount.
* 1798 , (Thomas Malthus), (An Essay on the Principle of Population):
More than sufficiently.
(label) , very.
* 26 June 2014 , A.A Dowd, AV Club Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler spoof rom-com clichés in They Came Together [http://www.avclub.com/review/paul-rudd-and-amy-poehler-spoof-rom-com-cliches-th-206220]
(label) much, enough
(label) many
(label) plentiful
* 1597 , Shakespeare, Henry IV , Part I, Act I, Scene IV:
* 1836 , The American Gardener's Magazine and Register , volume 2, page 279:
Sufficient; all that is required, needed, or appropriate.
* Bible, (Gospel of Luke) xv. 17
* , chapter=16
, title= * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=15 Sufficiently.
:
*, chapter=5
, title= Fully; quite; used to express slight augmentation of the positive degree, and sometimes equivalent to very .
:
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:I know you well enough ; you are Signior Antonio.
*
*:“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
A sufficient or adequate number, amount, etc.
stop! Don't do that anymore, etc.
As pronouns the difference between plenty and enough
is that plenty is more than enough while enough is a sufficient or adequate number, amount, etc.As adverbs the difference between plenty and enough
is that plenty is more than sufficiently while enough is sufficiently.As determiners the difference between plenty and enough
is that plenty is much, enough while enough is sufficient; all that is required, needed, or appropriate.As a noun plenty
is a more than adequate amount.As an adjective plenty
is plentiful.As a proper noun Plenty
is a village in Saskatchewan, Canada.As an interjection enough is
stop! Don't do that anymore, etc.plenty
English
Noun
- We are lucky to live in a land of peace and plenty .
- During this season of distress, the discouragements to marriage, and the difficulty of rearing a family are so great that population is at a stand. In the mean time the cheapness of labour, the plenty of labourers, and the necessity of an increased industry amongst them, encourage cultivators to employ more labour upon their land, to turn up fresh soil, and to manure and improve more completely what is already in tillage
Usage notes
While some dictionaries analyse this word as a noun, others analyse it as a pronoun,Macmillan]or as both a noun and a pronoun.[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/plenty oxforddictionaries.comHarrap's essential English Dictionary'' (1996)''Heinemann English Dictionary (2001)
Derived terms
* horn of plenty * land of plenty * plenteous * plentifulSynonyms
* abundance * profusionUsage notes
See the notes about the noun.Adverb
(-)- This office is plenty big enough for our needs.
- She was plenty mad at him.
- Seeing clichés mimicked this skillfully is plenty hilarious.
Determiner
(en determiner)- There'll be plenty time later for that
- Get a manicure. Plenty men do it.
Adjective
(en adjective)- if reasons were as plenty as blackberries
- Radishes are very plenty . Of cabbages a few heads of this year's crop have come to hand this week, and sold readily at quotations; [...]
Anagrams
*enough
English
Alternative forms
* (l) * (l) (obsolete) * (l), (l), (l) (Scotland)Determiner
(en determiner)- How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare!
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=The preposterous altruism too!
citation, passage=‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough ! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’}}
Adverb
(head)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.}}
Usage notes
* As an adverb, enough always follows the verb it qualifies.Pronoun
(English Pronouns)- I have enough to keep me going .
Interjection
- Enough !
