rife
Americanadjective
-
of common or frequent occurrence; prevalent; in widespread existence, activity, or use.
Crime is rife in the slum areas of our cities.
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current in speech or report.
Rumors are rife that the government is in financial difficulty.
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abundant, plentiful, or numerous.
- Synonyms:
- teeming, multitudinous, plenteous
- Antonyms:
- scarce
-
abounding (usually followed bywith ).
adjective
-
of widespread occurrence; prevalent or current
rumour was rife in the village
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very plentiful; abundant
-
(foll by with) abounding (in)
a land rife with poverty
Other Word Forms
- overrife adjective
- rifely adverb
- rifeness noun
- unrife adjective
Etymology
Origin of rife
before 1150; Middle English; Old English rīfe; cognate with Middle Dutch rijf abundant, Old Norse rīfr
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.
The historic Egmont was a Flemish general, a hero to his people in the Netherlands who attempts to serve the 16th century Spanish emperor, Philip II, and rife for Goethe’s romanticizing.
From Los Angeles Times
Informal recycling is rife with hazards -- open burning, acid baths and unprotected dismantling expose workers to toxic fumes and contaminate soil and water.
From Barron's
“The Last Kings” is rife with a different sort of bad behavior: the sort of backstabbing that only friends do.
Brontë fans have also accused the director of reducing a complex work rife with social critique into a popcorn romance.
From Los Angeles Times
Corners of the global telecom industry have been rife with fraud for decades, industry experts say.
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.
