plum

UK: /ˈplʌm/ US: /plʌm/ ,(plum)

Inflections of 'plum' (adj):

plummer

adj comparative

plummest

adj superlative

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

plum¹ /plʌm/   n., adj., plum•mer, plum•mest. 
n. 

1. Plant Biology [countable] the sweet, fleshy, red or purple fruit of any of several trees of the rose family.
2. Plant Biology [countable] the tree itself.
3. [countable] a sugarplum.
4. [uncountable] a deep purple, between blue and red.
5. Informal Terms [countable] an excellent thing, as a rewarding job.

adj. [before a noun]

6. desirable or rewarding:
   After years at that lousy office he finally got the plum job he deserved.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

plum¹  (plum), n., adj., plum•mer, plum•mest. 
n. 

1. Plant Biology the drupaceous fruit of any of several trees belonging to the genus Prunus, of the rose family, having an oblong stone.
2. Plant Biology the tree itself.
3. Plant Biology any of various other trees bearing a plumlike fruit.
4. Plant Biology the fruit itself.
5. a sugarplum.
6. a raisin, as in a cake or pudding.
7. a deep purple varying from bluish to reddish.
8. Informal Terms an excellent or desirable thing, as a fine position:
   The choicest plums went to his old cronies.
9. Informal Terms an unanticipated large increase in money or property, as an unexpected legacy;
   a windfall:
   The company offered bonuses and other plums.
10. Building Also called displacer. a large stone used in massive concrete construction.

adj. 

11. extremely desirable, rewarding, profitable, or the like:
    a plum job in the foreign service.

• bef. 900; Middle English; Old English plūme (cognate with German Pflaume) Greek proûmnon plum, proúmnē plum tree; compare prune¹

plum′like′, adj. 

plum²  (plum), adj., adv. 

1. Building plumb (defs. 3–7).

Plum  (plum), n. 

1. Place Names a city in SW Pennsylvania. 25,390.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

plum / plʌm/ noun

1. a small rosaceous tree, Prunus domestica, with white flowers and an edible oval fruit that is purple, yellow, or green and contains an oval stone
   See also greengage, damson
2. the fruit of this tree
3. a raisin, as used in a cake or pudding
4. a dark reddish-purple colour
5. (as adjective): a plum carpet
6. something of a superior or desirable kind, such as a financial bonus
7. (as modifier): a plum job
8. (usually plural) a testicle

Etymology: Old English plūme; related to Latin prunum, German Pflaume

plum / plʌm/ adjective , adverb

1. a variant spelling of plumb4, ,