broad
adjective
of great breadth.
broad
1 American
[brawd]
/ brɔd /
adjective
-
broader,
comparative
-
broadest
superlative
-
of great breadth.
The river was too broad to swim across.
- Antonyms:
- narrow
-
measured from side to side.
The desk was three feet broad.
-
of great extent; large.
the broad expanse of ocean.
-
We awoke to broad daylight.
-
not limited or narrow; of extensive range or scope.
A modern doctor must have a broad knowledge of medicine.
-
A broad interpretation of the law tempers justice with mercy.
-
main or general.
the broad outlines of a subject.
-
plain or clear.
Her remark was a broad hint of her feelings.
-
He smirked at the broad joke.
- Synonyms:
- gross
-
(of conversation) rough; countrified.
-
unconfined; unbridled; unrestrained;
It was a hilarious evening of broad mirth.
-
(of pronunciation) strongly dialectal.
He wore kilts and had a broad Scots accent.
-
Phonetics. (of a transcription) using one basic symbol to represent each phoneme.
-
broad a, the a- sound when used in lieu of the more common a- sound in such words as half, can't, and laugh.
adverb
noun
-
broads
plural
-
the broad part of anything.
-
Slang.
-
Usually Offensive. a term used to refer to a woman.
-
a promiscuous woman.
-
-
Movies, Television. Often broads. an incandescent or fluorescent lamp used as a general source of light in a studio.
-
a gold coin of England and Scotland, issued by James I and Charles I and equal to 20 shillings.
idioms
-
broad on the quarter, bearing 135° to the heading of a vessel.
-
broad on the bow, bearing 45° to the heading of a vessel.
-
broad on the beam, bearing 90° to the heading of a vessel.
Broad
2
American
[brawd]
/ brɔd /
noun
broad
British
/ brɔːd /
adjective
-
having relatively great breadth or width
-
of vast extent; spacious
a broad plain
-
(postpositive) from one side to the other
four miles broad
-
of great scope or potential
that invention had broad applications
-
not detailed; general
broad plans
-
clear and open; full (esp in the phrase broad daylight )
-
obvious or plain
broad hints
-
liberal; tolerant
a broad political stance
-
widely spread; extensive
broad support
-
outspoken or bold
a broad manner
-
vulgar; coarse; indecent
a broad joke
-
unrestrained; free
broad laughter
-
(of a dialect or pronunciation) consisting of a large number of speech sounds characteristic of a particular geographical area
a broad Yorkshire accent
-
finance denoting an assessment of liquidity as including notes and coin in circulation with the public, banks' till money and balances, most private-sector bank deposits, and sterling bank-deposit certificates Compare narrow
broad money
-
phonetics
-
of or relating to a type of pronunciation transcription in which symbols correspond approximately to phonemes without taking account of allophonic variations
-
the long vowel in English words such as father , half , as represented in the received pronunciation of Southern British English
-
-
amounting to the same thing; without advantage either way
noun
-
the broad part of something
-
slang
-
a girl or woman
-
a prostitute
-
-
dialect a river spreading over a lowland See also Broads
-
dialect a shallow lake
-
a wood-turning tool used for shaping the insides and bottoms of cylinders
adverb
broad
More Idioms
Sensitive Note
When used to refer to a woman, broad is usually perceived as insulting. The meaning “promiscuous woman” is probably the earlier sense.
Synonym Usage
See wide.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of broad
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bro(a)d, Old English brād; cognate with Dutch breed, German breit, Old Norse breithr, Gothic braiths
Explanation
The adjective broad boasts an extensive — you might even say broad — array of subtly different meanings including wide, spacious, far-reaching, vague, and unsubtle. It's kind of funny that the word broad can communicate such an expansive range of ideas since expansive is, in fact, a synonym for broad. This adjective can be used to describe actual physical spaces. A broad highway, for example, would be difficult to cross because of all the cars in the many lanes of the road. The word can also be used more figuratively. American history covers a broad range of topics and events. A broad-minded person is open to new ideas, while broad humor aims for a mass audience with obvious gags and stunts.
Vocabulary lists containing broad
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The Star Spangled Banner
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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.
See Examples For:
Metro bus said she saw the drama unfold in broad daylight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
AI-related stocks are the main driver behind many broad indexes.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Although the researchers have demonstrated that the plasma filament can transmit radio waves, its ability to receive signals and operate across a broad range of frequencies still needs to be tested.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026
“While healthy bull markets often reset through rotation rather than broad liquidation, as we’ve seen on several occasions in recent years, we see tech leadership as likely to endure.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
The dragon’s back was broad as a dozen grand pianos, and as polished; it was slippery, and hard to know where to put his feet.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
The River Arts District, a string of old warehouses along the French Broad River that artists turned into studios and galleries over decades, took some of the worst of the flooding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
One of the Broad Peak climbers, Wang Zhong, was a close friend and a client.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
But this July, an avalanche swept through Pakistan's Broad Peak while the two were on their way up, engulfing everything in its path.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Like the Broad, the Norton Simon, Hammer and J. Paul Getty museums, the Lucas Museum is built around a founder’s collection and cultural vision.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The sign read Broad Street, so I followed it north into the city.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Under the proposals, restoration projects would be put together for the River Wensum, the Bure broads and marshes, and the River Yare catchment area.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
“Us old broads are trying to learn the new technology because, I mean, we’re kind of trapped,” said Linda Harner, whom I met at the Culver City Senior Center, where she takes a Spanish class.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2022
This is a workout for ladies, by which she means older broads who might appreciate the occasional low-impact leg lifts.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 9, 2019
“I think they just bonded over overcoming their experiences, and being great broads, and being tremendous mothers,” she explained.
From Fox News ● Nov. 30, 2018
At the broads of Clashmore, the highest water-mark to which the inflowing tide comes, one can easily imagine themselves upon an inland lake.
From The Sunny Side of Ireland How to see it by the Great Southern and Western Railway by Robert Lloyd Praeger
Its proceeds go toward supporting LACMA’s initiative to make film more central to the museum’s curatorial programming, as well as toward the museum’s broader mission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Elliott-Sale she the offer must be voluntary, properly explained and part of broader maternity support.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“To be clear, the debate on whether we do this has ended,” he wrote in an Aug. 28 memo, referring to a broader set of recommendations including the steam catapults.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Furthermore, there was a broader selloff of AI stocks on Monday, which could be tied to a number of factors, including Tan’s remarks as well as commentary last week from investor Steve Eisman.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
Thyon’s response didn't bode well, in its broader context—about mesarthium not being reactive with anything.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
In court earlier on Wednesday, Pike's lawyers secured a legal win by convincing a judge to order the state to preserve the broadest amount of evidence possible from the US death row inmate's botched execution.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“The broadest metric I look at is the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index ,” Nuveen’s Close said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
“We have by far the biggest and broadest research bench of any of the labs out there,” Hassabis said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
That may not necessarily be unique in the broadest span of TV history, but it’s rare enough for the layperson to recognize the difference between a James Burrows show and those of other directors.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
The latter was an unprecedented institution in the Greek world—a place devoted not only to the religious cult of the Muses, but to advancing human knowledge in the broadest sense.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
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.
