- plenty (of something) a large amount; as much or as many as you need
- plenty of eggs/money/time
- ‘Do we need more milk?’ ‘No, there's plenty in the fridge.’
- They always gave us plenty to eat.
- We had plenty to talk about.
Grammar Point much / a lot of / lots ofmuch / a lot of / lots of- Much is used only with uncountable nouns. It is used mainly in questions and negative sentences:
- Do you have much free time?
- How much experience have you had?
- I don’t have much free time.
- In statements a lot of or lots of (informal) is much more common:
- How much (money) does she earn?
- She earns a lot of money.
- A lot of/lots of is still felt to be informal, especially in British English, so in formal writing it is better to use much, a great deal of or a large amount of.
- Very much and a lot can be used as adverbs:
- I miss my family very much.
- I miss very much my family.
- I miss my family a lot.
- Thanks a lot.
- I didn’t enjoy the film (very) much.
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘fullness, perfection’): from Old French plente, from Latin plenitas, from plenus ‘full’.Definitions on the go
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