ubiquitous
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See omnipresent.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ubiquitous
First recorded in 1830–40; ubiquit(y) + -ous
Explanation
It's everywhere! It's everywhere! When something seems like it's present in all places at the same time, reach for the adjective ubiquitous. "Cities like Singapore aim to cloak themselves in ubiquitous, free Wi-Fi in the next few years," The Wall Street Journal reported recently — meaning that those savvy Singaporeans will find a wireless connection everywhere they go. The word comes from the Latin ubique, meaning — you guessed it — "everywhere." The usual pronunciation is "yoo-BIK-wih-tihs," but Joseph Heller must have had the older variant "ooh-BIK-wih-tihs" in mind when he wrote in Catch-22 that a character "padded through the shadows fruitlessly like an ubiquitous spook."
Vocabulary lists containing ubiquitous
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
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Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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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.
Social media has bolstered the narcissistic machismo already present among many men and ubiquitous in fraternity life.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Today we know the price of many things because technology is ubiquitous, and so is monetization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
"The US may lead at the frontier, while China could still gain enormous economic and geopolitical leverage by making capable AI cheap, open and ubiquitous."
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
"These ubiquitous little beads of rock are the basic building blocks from which the planets themselves were eventually assembled," Grewal said.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
The small boy ran over to his mother, who was inspecting one of the ubiquitous Santa Clauses—OVER 6000 ON DISPLAY! the signs said—and he tugged urgently at the hem of her coat.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
