ripe
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ripe¹
- /ɹaɪp/ UK, US
Rhymes with -aɪp
Where it comes from
From Middle English ripe, rype, from Old English rīpe (“ripe, mature”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīpī, from Proto-Germanic *rīpijaz, *rīpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyb- (“to snatch”). Cognate with West Frisian ryp (“ripe”), Dutch rijp (“ripe”), German reif (“ripe”). Related to reap.
adjective riper · ripest · rype
- Of a fruit, vegetable, seed, etc., ready for reaping or gathering; having attained perfection; mature. ripe grain
- Of a food, advanced to the state of fitness for use; mellow. ripe cheese
-
Having attained its full development; mature; perfected.
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one.
Similar: consummate
- Of a sore, tumor, etc., maturated or suppurated; ready to discharge.
- Ready for action or effect; prepared. while things were just ripe for a war
- Of a person, ready, willing, eager. I'm starting somethin' myself. I'm ripe to fight. It's this country air!
- Like ripened fruit in ruddiness and plumpness. Those happy smilets, / That played on her ripe lip.
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Intoxicated.
Alonso: And Trinculo is reeling-ripe: where should they / Find this grand liquor that hath gilded them? / How cam'st thou in this pickle?
Similar: Adrian Quist, adrip, aled up, all mops and brooms, arseholed, a sheet in the wind, a sheet in the wind's eye, bedrunken, befuddled, beliquored, besotted, besotten
- Of a conflict between parties, having developed to a stage where the conflict may be reviewed by a court of law. Problems emerge in judging whether a case is ripe, however, when contested general agency directives are issued that are not aimed at specific parties.
-
Smelly: having a disagreeable odor.
His Majesty [a purple emperor butterfly] has rather peculiar tastes for so elegant a being. You just hang a piece of decidedly ripe meat anywhere near.
Similar: bad, buckish, cacodorous, fetid, foul-smelling, funky, graveolent, malodorous, mawkish, niffy, noisome, nonaromatic
Opposite: unripe
noun ripes · rype
- A fruit or vegetable which has ripened. When he realized that the ripes would not make it back to Selma, Zemurray offered a free bunch of bananas to any telegraph operator who notified local grocers that he was coming through with a shipment of bananas.
verb ripes · riping · riped · rype
- To ripen or mature. […] he answer'd, "Do not so; / Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, / But stay the very riping of the time; / […]
ripe²
- /ɹaɪp/ UK, US
Rhymes with -aɪp
Where it comes from
From Middle English ripe, from Latin ripa.
noun ripes
- The bank of a river.
ripe³
- /ɹaɪp/ UK, US
Rhymes with -aɪp
verb ripes · riping · riped
- To search; to rummage.
ripe⁴
- /ɹaɪp/ UK, US
Rhymes with -aɪp
Where it comes from
An alteration of rife.
adjective
- Rife The current state of the tech industry is ripe with danger and poses an existential threat, he believes.
RIPE⁵
Ripe⁶
Where it comes from
Recorded as Ripe in 1086 (DB), from Old English rip, "edge or strip of land".
proper noun
- A village in Chalvington with Ripe parish, Wealden district, East Sussex, England (OS grid ref TQ5110).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: overripe, mature, aged, mellow, mellowed, right, good, late, opportune, ready, advanced, ripened, grown-up, generous, intense, well-developed
adjective
Opposite: unripe
Translations
Every language
adj ready for reaping or gathering, of fruits and seeds
| Español | maduro, jecho |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 熟した jukushita |
| 中文 | 成熟 chéngshú, 熟 shú |
| Português | maduro |
| Français | mûr, mûre |
| Deutsch | reif |
| Italiano | maturo, matura |
| Ελληνικά | ώριμος órimos |
| Română | copt, matur |
| Русский | зре́лый zrélyj, спе́лый spélyj |
| Tiếng Việt | chín |
| العربية | ناضِج nāḍij, حاصِد ḥāṣid |
| עברית | בשל bashél |
adj advanced to the state of fitness for use
| Español | madurado |
|---|---|
| Português | maduro |
| Deutsch | gereift |
| Italiano | maturato |
| Русский | вы́держанный výderžannyj |
Talk about this word "ripe." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ripe. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ripe. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ripe "ripe." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ripe.Cite this
@misc{ripe_2026,
title = {ripe},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ripe},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
