broaden
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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broadens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
broadened,
past participle, past
-
broadening
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
broadensimple
-
broadenssimple
-
have broadenedperfect
-
has broadenedperfect
-
am broadeningprogressive
-
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:
As well as putting out videos on his own accounts on X and TikTok, he has sought to broaden his audience by appearing on entertainment channels run by creators with large followings.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
The discovery could also broaden research into how the health and history of blood stem cells affect the brain.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
A different way to ride the trend is to broaden your investing horizon.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
The company also said it aims to create new opportunities for local artists and broaden access to live theater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Because he spent all of his free time there, he couldn’t quite manage to broaden his life.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
"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
Chatrie broadens the constitutional problem considerably because geofence warrants are built around collective searching.
From Slate ● May 20, 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
It was about nine in the morning when Mammachi and Baby Kochamma got news of a white child’s body found floating downriver where the Meenachal broadens as it approaches the backwaters.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
“Participation in the equity market has broadened significantly,” he noted.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
He said the oil price shock from the war with Iran has not broadened out to cause more generalized inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
But they broadened into a wider expression of frustration over unemployment and governance, culminating in the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
“The broadening of the market has led to value outperformance, but the broadening of the market has also been because earnings growth has broadened out as well.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Farther along, beyond their comparatively modest houses, the street broadened and the grand villas of judges and officials rose on either side in the midst of large gardens and vineyards.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The thing about “Coat of Many Colors,” though, is that it doesn’t end with the narrator broadening her schoolmates’ minds or even with her shaming them for their cruelty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 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
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
Tim Wilkins, the managing director of Intertanko, a trade body representing tanker owners, said the industry was "facing a broadening, deteriorating, and increasingly complex security situation".
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Compared to the normal brain, Algernons had decreased in weight and there was a general smoothing out of the cerebral convolutions as well as a deepening and broadening of brain fissures.
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
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.
