pervade
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- interpervade verb (used with object)
- pervader noun
- pervadingly adverb
- pervadingness noun
- pervasion noun
- pervasive adjective
- unpervaded adjective
- unpervading adjective
Etymology
Origin of pervade
1645–55; < Latin pervādere to pass through, equivalent to per- per- + vādere to go, walk
Explanation
To pervade means to be present throughout, to exist in every part of. If you have too many cats, the horrible smell of cat pee will pervade your house. You can use pervade both for external things like smells and sickness, and for more internal things like feelings. For instance, you can say that a feeling of doom pervaded the army as they caught sight of the opposition’s superior forces. Despite efforts to prevent bullying, peer pressure and clique mentalities pervade the school environment.
Vocabulary lists containing pervade
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Grade 10, List 1
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The Giver
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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.
Bell Labs, the legendary research-and-development organization, created foundational innovations like transistors that pervade the modern world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
But with “Young Mothers,” the filmmakers pare back the desperate stakes that often pervade their movies.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026
Even in its earliest manifestations, there was a peculiar combination of grooving energy and inherent sadness in their music that would pervade their hitmaking efforts with Fleetwood Mac and beyond.
From Salon • Oct. 18, 2024
“And I just don’t think it will be controlled. I think it will pervade the culture.”
From New York Times • Feb. 4, 2024
Medical men and even the general public were becoming aware that the human environment was inhabited by an enormous number of microorganisms capable of causing disease, just as today carcinogens pervade our surroundings.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
