pervasive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pervasive
First recorded in 1730–40; equivalent to Latin pervās(us), past participle of pervādere “to pass through” + -ive ( def. ); see pervade ( def. )
Explanation
When something is pervasive, it's everywhere. Common things are pervasive — like greed and cheap perfume. Ever notice how certain trends seem to spread all over the place? When something — like a hairstyle — is super-common, it's pervasive. Pervasive things can't be escaped. Playing video games is pervasive among kids. Talking about the weather is pervasive among adults. Ideas, diseases, habits, and all sorts of things can be pervasive. If you're sick of seeing something because you're seeing it again and again, it must be pervasive.
Vocabulary lists containing pervasive
List 3
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 5
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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.
When everyone is writing about an outbreak of a disease, no matter how isolated, it can feel more pervasive and widespread than it actually is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
The idea that nearly everyone born on the land became a citizen was so pervasive as to have a name: jus soli, or “the right of the soil.”
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
“And Her Mother Came Too,” a song in “Dancing Honeymoon,” prompted incidents where a dancer as mother kept interloping and stressed the work’s pervasive dynamics of odd numbers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
But still, that fear of running out because of a long-term-care need is pervasive.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Multiply these daily frustrations by a few billion, and you begin to see that the curse of knowledge is a pervasive drag on the strivings of humanity, on a par with corruption, disease, and entropy.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
