omnipresent
Americanadjective
adjective
Related Words
Omnipresent, ubiquitous refer to the quality of being everywhere. Omnipresent emphasizes in a lofty or dignified way the power, usually divine, of being present everywhere at the same time, as though all-enveloping: Divine law is omnipresent. Ubiquitous is applied to that which seems to appear in many and all sorts of places, or in an undignified or humorous way is “all over the place,” often when unwanted: A bore seems to be ubiquitous.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of omnipresent
First recorded in 1600–10; from Medieval Latin omnipraesent- (stem of omnipraesēns ), equivalent to Latin omni- omni- + praesent- present 1
Explanation
Omnipresent describes something that's everywhere at once, like a deity. If your parents are constantly monitoring what you do, you may feel like they're omnipresent — and look forward to going to college somewhere far, far away. You might recognize the prefix omni-, meaning "all," from words like omnipotent ("all-powerful") or omniscient ("all-knowing"). Add it to present, and voilà, you have a word for something that's present all the time. You can't hide from an omnipresent being, and you can't escape an omnipresent smell. Language purists might prefer that a bad smell be described as ubiquitous ("turning up everywhere") and save the word omnipresent for the divine.
Vocabulary lists containing omnipresent
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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This Week In Culture: August 24–August 30, 2019
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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.
Omnipresent was the influence of comics minimalist Chris Ware, known for his spare drawing style and his tight, diagrammatic sequences.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2023
“For instance, ‘omnipresent’ means insufferable, as in ‘the Omnipresent Yoko Ono,’” he wrote.
From Washington Post • May 13, 2022
Omnipresent and energetic, he has been one of the central figures in New York’s cultural re-emergence, and certainly the city’s most significant and visible classical musician at a transformative moment.
From New York Times • Nov. 19, 2021
Omnipresent, if not omniscient, the Stasi was one of the most hated institutions in East Germany.
From Slate • Jan. 14, 2015
The consciously Omnipresent Deity could not seek and search for His beloved who had disappeared.
From Avatâras Four lectures delivered at the twenty-fourth anniversary meeting of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras, December, 1899 by Besant, Annie Wood
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.
