Verdant means richly green with plant life. When you see a verdant hillside, you're looking at grass, trees, and vegetation so lush and green that the landscape seems to glow with life. A verdant valley might be filled with thick forests and meadows, while a verdant garden overflows with healthy plants and leaves.

The word comes from an old French word for green, and it carries a sense of abundance and freshness. You wouldn't call a single green plant verdant, but you might describe a whole jungle or forest that way. After spring rains, farmland becomes verdant with new growth. A park that was brown and dormant all winter transforms into a verdant space once warm weather returns.

Writers often use verdant to paint a picture of natural beauty and fertility. When an explorer describes discovering a verdant island, you can imagine dense tropical plants, bright green leaves catching the sunlight, and life bursting from every corner. The word suggests not just the color green, but the vitality and richness that come with thriving plant life.