wide
adjective
having considerable or great extent from side to side; broad.
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Awidni.
wide
1 American
[wahyd]
/ waɪd /
adjective
-
wider,
comparative
-
widest
superlative
-
having considerable or great extent from side to side; broad.
a wide boulevard.
- Antonyms:
- narrow
-
having a certain or specified extent from side to side.
three feet wide.
-
of great horizontal extent; extensive; vast; spacious.
the wide plains of the West.
- Synonyms:
- ample, comprehensive, boundless
-
of great range or scope; embracing a great number or variety of subjects, cases, etc..
wide experience.
-
open to the full or a great extent; expanded; distended.
to stare with wide eyes.
-
apart or remote from a specified point or object.
a guess wide of the truth.
-
too far or too much to one side.
a shot wide of the mark.
-
Baseball. outside.
The pitch was wide of the plate.
-
full, ample, or roomy, as clothing.
He wore wide, flowing robes.
-
Phonetics. lax.
-
British Slang. shrewd; wary.
adverb
-
to the full extent of opening.
Open your mouth wide.
-
to the utmost, or fully.
to be wide awake.
-
away from or to one side of a point, mark, purpose, or the like; aside; astray.
The shot went wide.
-
over an extensive space or region, or far abroad.
scattered far and wide.
-
to a great, or relatively great, extent from side to side.
The river runs wide here.
noun
-
Cricket. a bowled ball that goes wide of the wicket, and counts as a run for the side batting.
-
Archaic. a wide space or expanse.
-wide
2
American
wide
British
/ waɪd /
adjective
-
having a great extent from side to side
-
of vast size or scope; spacious or extensive
-
-
(postpositive) having a specified extent, esp from side to side
two yards wide
-
(in combination) covering or extending throughout
nationwide
-
-
distant or remote from the desired point, mark, etc
your guess is wide of the mark
-
(of eyes) opened fully
-
loose, full, or roomy
wide trousers
-
exhibiting a considerable spread, as between certain limits
a wide variation
adverb
-
over an extensive area
to travel far and wide
-
to the full extent
he opened the door wide
-
far from the desired point, mark, etc
noun
-
(in cricket) a bowled ball that is outside the batsman's reach and scores a run for the batting side
-
archaic a wide space or extent
-
completely
wide
Idioms
Usage
What does -wide mean? The combining form -wide is used like a suffix meaning “wide,” in the sense of "throughout" or "in or to every part of." It is occasionally used in everyday and technical terms. The form -wide comes from Old English wīd, meaning “wide.”
Synonym Usage
Wide, broad refer to dimensions. They are often interchangeable, but wide especially applies to things of which the length is much greater than the width: a wide road, piece of ribbon. Broad is more emphatic, and applies to things of considerable or great width, breadth, or extent, especially to surfaces extending laterally: a broad valley.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
overwidenessnoun
-
widenessnoun
-
overwideadjective
-
superwideadjective
-
ultrawideadjective
-
widishadjective
-
overwidelyadverb
-
widelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of wide
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English wīd; cognate with Dutch wijd, German weit, Old Norse vīthr
Explanation
The word wide describes something that stretches across a great distance, like a smile that beams from ear to ear, or the open arms of a friend about to give you a big hug. Wide is an adjective that describes both physical spaces and ideas. A hallway with plenty of room for everyone to walk through can be called wide. If a dinner party has lots of different foods to pick from, you could say there’s a wide selection of dishes. A situation with many possible outcomes might have a wide range of results. Whether it's about space or variety, the word wide is all about having plenty of room.
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.
See Examples For:
In the joke that inspires the special’s title, she measures an Instagram comment’s subzero value in a wide scope, lampooning the communal yet cartoonish nature of our endless scroll.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
Unwilling to limit themselves to literature, cats have successfully pawed their way into a wide range of artistic mediums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Scientists have nicknamed it the "Pac-Man enzyme" because its molecular structure features a remarkably wide opening where chemical reactions take place, known as the active site.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
More than 90% of data capacity between Europe and Asia runs through cables under the Red Sea, which enter through Bab al-Mandeb, a strait about 16 miles wide.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
At last we emerged into the wide courtyard inside the front gate of the prison and another long wait began.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Trail mix: Grab your plastic bib and wooden mallet for the miles-long and -wide sealife buffet.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2019
The foot-tall and -wide tender perennial from South Africa had attractive purplish buds, but the narrow green leaves were slightly weedy-looking.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 2017
The BBC says the move is part of wider cost-saving measures and alternative options are being explored.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
This has been the case for a while, but now the gap is getting wider.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Making more efficient use of such an expensive facility could provide substantial benefits to astronomers and the wider scientific community, potentially allowing more important discoveries to be made with the available observing time.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
In reply, chief executive James Duncan said "peer-led and community-based support can form a valuable part of the wider network for support available to women and families".
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Molly forced the window open wider, her hands not yet claws, but still a ghastly gray that she associated with her monstrous form.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
At its widest, French 10-year debt paid a yield 1.81 percentage points over equivalent bunds in November 2011, according to FactSet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
The company also says the gap between the value of a flat and a house is the widest it has been for 30 years.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
Its 22% discount was one of the widest of any U.S. closed-end fund that invested in public securities, according to the fund’s semiannual report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Give your eyes around 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness and look towards the widest unobstructed area of sky possible.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
They may be a mechanism for keeping new, mutant kinds of DNA in the widest circulation among us.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
