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definitions

broad

[brawd]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR broad ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, broad·er, broad·est.

adverb

fully: He was broad awake.

noun

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RELATED WORDS

expansive, full, generous, deep, large, immense, extensive, vast, wide, comprehensive, universal, far-reaching, sweeping, wide-ranging, clear, explicit, straightforward, radical, thick, squat

Idioms

    broad on the beam, Nautical. bearing 90° to the heading of a vessel.
    broad on the bow, Nautical. bearing 45° to the heading of a vessel.
    broad on the quarter, Nautical. bearing 135° to the heading of a vessel.

Origin of broad

before 1000; Middle English bro(o)d, Old English brād; cognate with Dutch breed, German breit, Old Norse breithr, Gothic braiths
Related formsbroad·ish, adjectivebroad·ly, adverbo·ver·broad, adjective

Synonyms for broad

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR broad ON THESAURUS.COM
1. See wide. 3. extensive, ample, vast. 5. liberal, open. 10. gross.

Antonyms for broad

1. narrow.

Usage note

When used to refer to a woman, broad is usually perceived as insulting. The meaning “promiscuous woman” is probably the earlier sense.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for broadest

Contemporary Examples of broadest

Historical Examples of broadest

  • It is national in the broadest sense of the term, and primative and forcible to intensity.

    Ridgeway

    Scian Dubh

  • Its longest exponent is Comte, its broadest Mill and its thickest Spencer.

  • He prided himself on being able to speak the broadest of the dialect.

    Heather and Snow

    George MacDonald

  • They were, one and all, from the broadest and best to the narrowest and least frequented, very dark.

    Barnaby Rudge

    Charles Dickens

  • There, on one of the broadest tombstones she saw sitting a circle of lamias.

British Dictionary definitions for broadest

broad

adjective

having relatively great breadth or width
of vast extent; spaciousa broad plain
(postpositive) from one side to the otherfour miles broad
of great scope or potentialthat invention had broad applications
not detailed; generalbroad plans
clear and open; full (esp in the phrase broad daylight)
obvious or plainbroad hints
liberal; toleranta broad political stance
widely spread; extensivebroad support
outspoken or bolda broad manner
vulgar; coarse; indecenta broad joke
unrestrained; freebroad laughter
(of a dialect or pronunciation) consisting of a large number of speech sounds characteristic of a particular geographical areaa 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 certificatesbroad money Compare narrow (def. 7)
phonetics
  1. of or relating to a type of pronunciation transcription in which symbols correspond approximately to phonemes without taking account of allophonic variations
  2. broad athe long vowel in English words such as father, half, as represented in the received pronunciation of Southern British English
as broad as it is long amounting to the same thing; without advantage either way

noun

the broad part of something
slang, mainly US and Canadian
  1. a girl or woman
  2. a prostitute
British dialect a river spreading over a lowlandSee also Broads
East Anglian dialect a shallow lake
a wood-turning tool used for shaping the insides and bottoms of cylinders

adverb

widely or fullybroad awake
Derived Formsbroadly, adverbbroadness, noun

Word Origin for broad

Old English brād; related to Old Norse breithr, Old Frisian brēd, Old High German breit, Gothic braiths
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for broadest

broad

adj.

Old English brad "broad, flat, open, extended," from Proto-Germanic *braithaz (cf. Old Frisian bred, Old Norse breiðr, Dutch breed, German breit, Gothic brouþs), of unknown origin. Not found outside Germanic languages. No clear distinction in sense from wide. Related: Broadly. Broad-brim as a style of hat (1680s, broad-brimmed) in 18c.-19c. suggested "Quaker male" from their characteristic attire.

broad

n.

"woman," slang, 1911, perhaps suggestive of broad (adj.) hips, but it also might trace to American English abroadwife, word for a woman (often a slave) away from her husband. Earliest use of the slang word suggests immorality or coarse, low-class women. Because of this negative association, and the rise of women's athletics, the track and field broad jump was changed to the long jump c.1967.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with broadest

broad

In addition to the idioms beginning with broad

  • broad daylight
  • broad in the beam
  • broad shoulders, have

also see:

  • can't hit the broad side of a barn
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.