Meaning & use
fecund
Last updated
UK/ˈfiːkənd/
US/ˈfekənd/
Meanings
adjectivecomparableformal
Able to produce many young, crops or fruit.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a verb.
The river valley is fecund farmland.
A fecund pair of rabbits can fill a field.
adjectivecomparablefigurativeliterary
Producing many new ideas or creative works.
Grammar: Figurative use.
She had a fecund imagination.
The decade was a fecund period for jazz.
Word forms
| comparative | more fecund |
|---|---|
| superlative | most fecund |
Common combinations
- fecund soil
- The fecund soil yields three harvests.
- fecund imagination
- Her fecund imagination fills notebooks.
- fecund period
- It was a fecund period for the arts.
- fecund mind
- He had a fecund mind.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fertile
- Fertile is the everyday word and is the safer choice.
- prolific
- Prolific describes producing a lot of work or offspring.
- productive
- Productive is plain and neutral.
Opposites
Word family
- fecundity noun
- the ability to produce abundantly
Commonly confused: fecund or feckless?
fecund vs feckless
Feckless means weak and irresponsible, which is unrelated to fertility.
Practice
The poet's most ___ years produced a book every season.
Choose one answer.
Fecund means abundantly productive. Feckless is a tempting similar-looking word meaning irresponsible.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fecund”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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