prosperous

Compared meaning: having a lot of money (adjective).

比较义项：拥有大量金钱或资源，富裕的（形容词）。

• wealthy

  Neutral, fairly formal word for having a lot of money or valuable possessions, typically describing people, families or nations; less casual than rich.

  中性、较为正式的词，指拥有大量金钱或贵重财产，通常形容人、家庭或国家；比rich更少口语化。

  Only the wealthy could afford such expensive artwork.

  只有富人才买得起如此昂贵的艺术品。

• rich

  The most common, everyday word for having a lot of money; can sound blunt; also used for unrelated senses like rich food or resources, not compared here.

  最常见、最口语化的词，指拥有大量金钱；语气可能显得较为直接；也可用于表示“食物味道浓厚”或“资源丰富”等其他义项，此处不作比较。

  He got rich by investing in real estate early.

  他因早年投资房地产而变得富有。

• affluent

  Formal word describing a comfortable, well-off lifestyle or community rather than an individual's raw wealth; common in phrases like affluent neighborhood.

  较为正式的词，形容舒适、富裕的生活方式或社区，而非直接指个人拥有的财富多少；常见搭配如affluent neighborhood（富裕社区）。

  She grew up in an affluent family and attended private school.

  她成长于一个富裕的家庭，就读私立学校。

• prosperous 本词

  Emphasizes success and thriving growth, often of a business, place or economy, that brings wealth; rarely used to describe one person's money directly.

  强调因成功和兴旺发展而带来的富裕，常用于企业、地区或经济，而不直接形容某个人的金钱状况。

  The country enjoyed a prosperous period of economic growth.

  这个国家经历了一段经济繁荣的兴旺时期。

Wealthy, rich, affluent, and prosperous all mean having a lot of money. Rich is the most common word; its unrelated sense, rich food, is not compared here. Wealthy is neutral. Affluent describes a comfortable lifestyle or community. Prosperous stresses success, for a business or economy.

这几个词都可用来形容“富裕的”，但语气和用法有所不同：rich最口语化，也可表示“食物味道浓厚”或“资源丰富”（此处不比较这些义项）；wealthy较为正式中性；affluent常形容生活方式或社区的富裕；prosperous更强调因成功而兴旺，常用于企业、地区或经济，而非直接形容个人的财富。

Compared meaning: successful, thriving in business (adjective).

比较义项：成功的、繁荣的（多指事业发展良好）（形容词）。

• successful

  A general word for achieving the result you wanted, in business, work, or life; does not necessarily imply making money.

  泛指达到自己想要的结果，可用于事业、工作或生活各方面；不一定意味着赚钱。

  The advertising campaign was extremely successful, tripling brand awareness in months.

  这次广告活动非常成功，几个月内就让品牌知名度提高了两倍。

• prosperous 本词

  Emphasizes wealth and financial thriving, especially built up over time; used mainly for businesses, people, or places that make a lot of money.

  强调财富和经济上的兴旺，尤其是长期积累的富裕；主要用于赚钱很多的企业、人物或地区。

  The prosperous merchant owned three warehouses and a fleet of trading ships.

  这位富裕的商人拥有三座仓库和一支贸易船队。

Successful and prosperous both describe doing well, especially in business. Successful is general, meaning you achieved the result you wanted, in any field, not necessarily about money. Prosperous stresses wealth and financial growth, mainly for businesses, people, or places that make a lot of money.

这两个词都能形容事业发展良好，但侧重点不同：successful泛指达成了自己想要的结果，不一定与金钱有关，可用于任何领域的成就；prosperous则强调财富积累和经济上的兴旺，语气更正式，通常专指企业、地区或个人因赚钱而变得富裕。