adjective
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extending over a wide area
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accepted by or occurring among many people
Etymology
Origin of widespread
Explanation
Widespread means far-reaching. For years, email was used only by computer programmers and technophiles. It was hard to imagine, back then, how widespread the phenomenon of digital communication would become. An idea that's widespread, is believed by many people, even if it's not true. A person such as Oprah, Gandhi, or Beyoncé, who has widespread popularity, is loved by many far and wide. A widespread disease is one that many people have — the flu epidemic of 1919 was deadly and widespread.
Vocabulary lists containing widespread
"The Civil Rights Movement"
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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"Laws are not the only way to boost immunization”: an editorial from Nature
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For now, the company is offsetting declining margins with operational efficiencies including widespread layoffs.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
The exact cause of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad en route to London on 12 June 2025 has been the subject of widespread speculation.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
The girl’s disappearance sparked a frantic and widespread 24-hour search.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026
This market-driven renewal filled vacant lots and derelict sites, reduced blight, converted nonperforming parcels into taxpaying assets and created billions of dollars in new wealth for existing homeowners, with little evidence of widespread displacement.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
At least until the expansion reached coastal New Guinea, travel between islands was probably by double-outrigger sailing canoes, which are still widespread throughout Indonesia today.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
