broaden
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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broadens,
present (3rd person singular)
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broadened,
past participle, past
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broadening
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
broadensimple
-
broadenssimple
-
have broadenedperfect
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has broadenedperfect
-
am broadeningprogressive
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are broadeningprogressive
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is broadeningprogressive
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have been broadeningperfect progressive
-
has been broadeningperfect progressive
Past
-
broadenedsimple
-
had broadenedperfect
-
was broadeningprogressive
-
were broadeningprogressive
-
had been broadeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of broaden
Explanation
To broaden something is to make it wider or more expansive. If you wake up feeling less than cheerful, the sight of the doughnuts your dad got for breakfast might broaden your smile. Something can broaden literally, like a river that broadens as you hike beside it, growing wider as it flows south. Things also broaden figuratively, the way people's minds tend to broaden when they travel around the world and meet people from different cultures. In both cases, things that broaden expand and become more open.
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:
So they will welcome "the opportunity to broaden their customer base and potentially move into defence", he says.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
“What we can do and will do is ensure that any change in relative prices don’t broaden out, don’t have second- and third-order effects on the economy,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
That shift could also broaden the set of AI beneficiaries beyond hardware vendors and hyperscalers to cybersecurity and observability providers, which could see greater demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Sannerstedt and Freden argue the Sweden Democrats had failed to broaden their appeal in other policy areas and were now struggling to remain relevant.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
They were more like present-day privileged Western students trawling the developing world and writing blogs about how the world’s poorest people enabled them to broaden their horizons.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
The revelation broadens a cyber incident that OpenAI described as unprecedented and which began when two of its models hacked Hugging Face, a site developers use to store and share AI models and code.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
"For JioStar, tennis broadens the engagement calendar, attracts affluent urban audiences and diversifies advertiser categories beyond cricket," says Bhalla.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
But if the weakness broadens or geopolitical risks intensify, policymakers could be spurred into action.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
“When it broadens out, it makes it much more difficult to avoid for consumers. That’s really the concern going forward,” Yaros said, adding that it’s especially challenging for lower-income households.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
‘And this ledge broadens out to the right. I could stand there without a hold. I’ll——’ his words were cut short.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
But generative AI has vastly broadened the range of tasks that humans can successfully outsource.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
"We have broadened the potential application of these materials," Singh said.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
Although G20 talks broadened to cover issues like climate change and global health over time, analysts expect Washington to advocate a "back-to-basics" approach this year.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
TOKYO—Japan’s consumer inflation picked up last month as the effects of higher oil prices caused by the Middle East conflict broadened.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
This inclusive nature has broadened the scope, and contributes towards a greater pedagogical understanding.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
The answer starts with Jesus, but much of the credit belongs to St. Paul, who dispensed with Jewish dietary law, circumcision requirements and prohibitions against intermarriage, thus broadening the appeal of early Christianity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Another feather in the cap for value is that, while growth stocks generally lead during periods of slowing or scarce profit, profits are now generally picking up and broadening out.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
The movie “9 to 5” from 1980 settled her broadening stardom; acting alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in a comedy about three office workers who get even with an abusive boss, Parton charmed viewers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
But the lead researcher, Dr Varun Warrier, says this shows "autism broadening out genetically" rather than misdiagnosis.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
If you won't take my word for it and have no vested interest in broadening your worldview, here's the most important takeaway: Iran is not pronounced i-RAN; it's pronounced e-RON.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
