spread like wildfire
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A rumour that "the Ceuta border is open" spread like wildfire on social media as men, women and children risked their lives trying to reach Spain.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
The giant number spread like wildfire across the investment world—and not in a good way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Hundreds of people showed up, and videos of people of all ages turning up in the popular supermarket spread like wildfire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
In the 2000s, the song spread like wildfire on file-sharing sites like Napster and Kazaa but, until now, The Stones had refused to clear it for commercial release.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
Wesley’s Methodism spread like wildfire through England and America because Wesley was shuttling back and forth among hundreds and hundreds of groups, and each group was then taking his message and making it even stickier.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
