diffuse

[ verb dih-fyooz; adjective dih-fyoos ]

/ verb dɪˈfyuz; adjective dɪˈfyus /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR diffuse ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), dif·fused, dif·fusing.

to pour out and spread, as a fluid.

to spread or scatter widely or thinly; disseminate.

Physics. to spread by diffusion.

verb (used without object), dif·fused, dif·fusing.

to spread.

Physics. to intermingle by diffusion.

adjective

characterized by great length or discursiveness in speech or writing; wordy.

widely spread or scattered; dispersed.

Botany. widely or loosely spreading.

Optics. (of reflected light) scattered, as from a rough surface (opposed to specular).

RELATED WORDS

secondhand

Nearby words

Origin of diffuse

1350–1400; Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Latin diffūsus spread, poured forth. See dif-, fuse²

Related forms

dif·fuse·ly

[dih-fyoos-lee] /dɪˈfyus li/, adverbdif·fuse·ness, nounin·ter·dif·fuse, verb, in·ter·dif·fused, in·ter·dif·fus·ing.non·dif·fuse, adjective

non·dif·fused, adjectivenon·dif·fus·ing, adjectiveo·ver·dif·fuse, verb, o·ver·dif·fused, o·ver·dif·fus·ing, adjectiveo·ver·dif·fuse·ly, adverbo·ver·dif·fuse·ness, nounre·dif·fuse, verb, re·dif·fused, re·dif·fus·ing.un·dif·fused, adjectivewell-dif·fused, adjective

Can be confuseddefuse diffuse

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for diffusely

This assumption Locke combats rather too diffusely, according to our notions.
Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries, Vol. 2|Henry Hallam
Is memory made apt and extensive or narrow and diffusely irrelevant?
Human Nature and Conduct|John Dewey
"Let me have the pleasure of telling it you my way," cried she, and told it diffusely, and kept him writhing.
White Lies|Charles Reade
He spoke for five and a half hours, much too diffusely, spinning out what he might have said in half the time.
The Greville Memoirs (Third Part) Volume I (of II)|Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville

Ill-smelling, resinous shrubs, four to ten feet high; diffusely branched.
The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits|Mary Elizabeth Parsons

British Dictionary definitions for diffusely

diffuse

verb (dɪˈfjuːz)

to spread or cause to spread in all directions

to undergo or cause to undergo diffusion

to scatter or cause to scatter; disseminate; disperse

adjective (dɪˈfjuːs)

spread out over a wide area

lacking conciseness

(esp of some creeping stems) spreading loosely over a large area

characterized by or exhibiting diffusiondiffuse light; diffuse reflection

botany (of plant growth) occurring throughout a tissue

Derived Formsdiffusely (dɪˈfjuːslɪ), adverbdiffuseness, noundiffusible (dɪˈfjuːzəbəl), adjectivediffusibility or diffusibleness, noun

Word Origin for diffuse

C15: from Latin diffūsus spread abroad, from diffundere to pour forth, from dis- away + fundere to pour

confusable

Avoid confusion with defuse

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 diffusely

diffuse

1520s (transitive), 1650s (intransitive), from Latin diffusus, past participle of diffundere "to pour out or away" (see diffusion). Related: Diffused; diffusing.

diffuse

adj.

early 15c., from Latin diffusus (see diffuse (v.)).

Medicine definitions for diffusely

diffuse

[ dĭ-fyōōs′ ]

adj.

Not limited to one tissue or location; widespread.

v.

To spread or to be spread widely, as through a tissue.

Related formsdif•fus′i•ble (-fyōō′zə-bəl) adj.