myriads

IPA/ˈmɪr.i.əd/
IPA/ˈmɪr.i.əd/

myriads — noun

  • myriadssingular
  • myriadsesplural

1. an extremely large number of people or things that is difficult to count or take

1.nounB2
Definition

an extremely large number of people or things that is difficult to count or take in all at once.

Example

Marco gazed up at the myriads of stars scattered across the desert sky.

myriads of + plural noun

Nila had to sort through myriads of unread emails after returning from a two-week holiday.

myriads of + plural noun (emails)

Common collocations
  • myriads of + people
  • myriads of + stars
  • myriads of + reasons
  • myriads of + possibilities
  • myriads of + species
Synonyms
  • countless numbers

    more emphatic and informal; often used in speech

  • multitude

    slightly more formal; suggests a crowd or mass rather than an abstract quantity

  • plethora

    often implies more than is needed or wanted; slightly negative connotation

Antonyms
  • handful

    a very small number; opposite extreme

  • scattering

    a small, sparse number spread over an area

Grammar Patterns

myriads of + plural noun

Usage Note

Almost always followed by 'of' and a plural noun. The singular form 'myriad' is also used as a noun ('a myriad of possibilities') but is less common in modern English.

Common Mistakes

There were myriad of people at the concert.
There were myriads of people at the concert.
when using the plural noun form, include 's' and keep 'of'.
Myriads stars filled the sky.
Myriads of stars filled the sky.
this noun always takes 'of' before the following noun.

myriads — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Myriads' emphasises both huge scale and a sense of wonder or overwhelm — it often appears in literary or formal contexts describing stars, possibilities, or natural phenomena. 'Countless numbers' is more direct and colloquial, used in everyday speech ('countless numbers of tourists'). 'Multitude' suggests a crowd of people or things gathered together ('a multitude of voices'), while 'plethora' carries a slight sense of excess ('a plethora of options that confused the buyer'). 'Innumerable' is an adjective, not a noun, so it follows a different grammatical structure ('innumerable stars' rather than 'an innumerable of stars'). In writing: 'The report listed myriads of environmental factors' sounds formal and weighty, whereas 'The report listed countless numbers of environmental factors' feels more journalistic.

myriads ↗countless numbersmultitude ↗plethora ↗innumerable ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • myriads of + plural noun
  • myriad + plural noun

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

From Greek 'myrias' (μυριάς, μυριάδος), meaning 'a group of ten thousand' or 'an indefinitely large number'. The Greek word 'myrioi' (μύριοι) literally meant 'ten thousand', which was the largest number with a single name in the Ancient Greek counting system. It passed into Latin as 'myrias' and entered English in the 16th century. Over time the precise numerical meaning faded and the word came to mean any extremely large, uncountable number.

First known use

1555

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 2