ubiquitous
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See omnipresent.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of ubiquitous
First recorded in 1830–40; ubiquit(y) + -ous
Explanation
It's everywhere! It's everywhere! When something seems like it's present in all places at the same time, reach for the adjective ubiquitous. "Cities like Singapore aim to cloak themselves in ubiquitous, free Wi-Fi in the next few years," The Wall Street Journal reported recently — meaning that those savvy Singaporeans will find a wireless connection everywhere they go. The word comes from the Latin ubique, meaning — you guessed it — "everywhere." The usual pronunciation is "yoo-BIK-wih-tihs," but Joseph Heller must have had the older variant "ooh-BIK-wih-tihs" in mind when he wrote in Catch-22 that a character "padded through the shadows fruitlessly like an ubiquitous spook."
Vocabulary lists containing ubiquitous
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
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Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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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.
One can be thought of as “ripple-out” inflation, where a shock to an economically ubiquitous input — like energy — reverberates throughout other goods and sectors that depend upon it.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
The “Intel Inside” marketing campaign made Intel a household name and a ubiquitous personal-computer chip supplier in the 1990s.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
But he adds that mariachi, ubiquitous in Mexico and L.A., is also an integral part of Venezuelan culture.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
The influence of the Queen City is ubiquitous: The fast food is Skyline Chili, not Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the Reds and Bengals are as important as the Wildcats.
From Slate • May 19, 2026
The glitzy car dipped and reached, engine purring as it climbed the ubiquitous San Francisco hills.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
