adjective
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extending over a wide area
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accepted by or occurring among many people
Etymology
Origin of widespread
Explanation
Widespread means far-reaching. For years, email was used only by computer programmers and technophiles. It was hard to imagine, back then, how widespread the phenomenon of digital communication would become. An idea that's widespread, is believed by many people, even if it's not true. A person such as Oprah, Gandhi, or Beyoncé, who has widespread popularity, is loved by many far and wide. A widespread disease is one that many people have — the flu epidemic of 1919 was deadly and widespread.
Vocabulary lists containing widespread
"The Civil Rights Movement"
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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"Laws are not the only way to boost immunization”: an editorial from Nature
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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.
Though widespread on the island state of Tasmania, they are listed as endangered and face a significant threat from a transmissible cancer known as Devil Facial Tumour Disease.
From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026
"As CWD becomes more widespread, understanding these dynamics becomes increasingly important."
From Science Daily • Jun. 16, 2026
“The upcoming El Niño event — which has a high likelihood of becoming very strong or even historic in magnitude — will likely lead to widespread and significant global impacts,” he added.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2026
After widespread press coverage of an incident when his dog killed one of the Queen's geese in St James's Park, Hattersley produced Buster's Diaries, purportedly written by the animal itself.
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2026
There was thus nothing automatic about the widespread adoption of the clock which took place in medieval Europe.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
