Meaning & use
proliferate
Last updated
Meanings
verbintransitiveformal
To grow or multiply quickly in number, spreading widely.
Grammar: No object: weeds proliferate. A thing is the subject, not the person.
Patterns
- something proliferates
- proliferate across something
Coffee shops have proliferated in our neighborhood.
Rumors proliferate when people lack facts.
Mold will proliferate in damp rooms.
verbintransitivebiologytechnical
To reproduce rapidly, as cells do in the body.
Grammar: Biology and medicine; subjects are cells or tissue: cells proliferate.
Patterns
- cells proliferate
Cancer cells proliferate faster than healthy ones.
Bacteria proliferate in warm, wet conditions.
Skin cells proliferate to heal a cut.
Word forms
| third person singular | proliferates |
|---|---|
| past tense | proliferated |
| past participle | proliferated |
| -ing form | proliferating |
Common combinations
- proliferate rapidly
- Online stores proliferate rapidly.
- proliferate across
- Cameras proliferate across the city.
- weapons proliferate
- Fear grew as weapons proliferated.
- cells proliferate
- The cells proliferate in the lab dish.
- proliferate unchecked
- Weeds proliferate unchecked in the garden.
Synonyms and how they differ
- multiply
- Multiply is plain and can be used for numbers or living things, while proliferate is more formal and suggests spreading widely.
- mushroom
- Mushroom is informal and highlights very sudden growth.
- spread
- Spread is general and covers any extension, but does not stress increasing numbers.
- burgeon
- Burgeon is literary and means grow fast, often in a positive way.
Opposites
Word family
- proliferation noun
- rapid increase in number
- proliferative adjective
- tending to multiply
- prolific adjective
- producing a lot
- offspring noun
- children or young
Commonly confused: proliferate or prolific?
proliferate vs prolific
Prolific describes someone who produces a lot, while proliferate is what things do when they multiply.
Practice
After the rain, mosquitoes began to ___ near the pond.
Choose one answer.
Proliferate means multiply quickly, which suits mosquitoes after rain. The other verbs mean to shrink or disappear.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “proliferate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.