pervasiveness

American  

[per-vey-siv-nis] / pərˈveɪ sɪv nɪs /

noun

1. the condition or state of being spread throughout something or somewhere.

   Health authorities have underestimated the pervasiveness of serious influenza cases in the city because only patients admitted to intensive care units are considered severe.

   With the growing pervasiveness of the internet, more and more people are searching for and purchasing goods online.

---

Other Word Forms

• interpervasiveness
  noun
• nonpervasiveness
  noun
• unpervasiveness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of pervasiveness

pervasive ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pervasiveness

The excerpt below is a scene from a dinner party in which one character launches into a riff about the pervasiveness of Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook recipes at social gatherings.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

Core CPI sped up on a three-month seasonally adjusted basis, imported inflation accelerated and there are early signs of broadening price pressures, as evidenced by the increase in inflation pervasiveness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

"The biggest impact is really the pervasiveness of self-censorship and the sense that if you write the wrong thing... that might land you in jail," Cheng said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026

Athol Fugard, South Africa’s foremost dramatist who explored the pervasiveness of apartheid in such searing works as ‘The Blood Knot’ and “‘Master Harold” … and the Boys.’

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025

Perhaps science was stillborn in Indian, Mayan and Aztec civilizations for the same reason it declined in Ionia, the pervasiveness of the slave economy.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• popularity