widespread

adjective

wide·​spread ˈwīd-ˈspred How to pronounce widespread (audio)
Synonyms of widespread
1
: widely diffused or prevalent
widespread public interest
2
: widely extended or spread out
… low, widespread hood and fenders …—Time
a widespread erosion surface—C. B. Hitchcock

Synonyms of widespread

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of widespread in a Sentence

There is widespread public interest in the election. Trade partners had become more widespread. There was widespread opposition to the plan.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
As camera adoption has become more widespread in recent years, those concerns have largely faded away, according to Common Council President Sabrina Madison. — ABC News, 24 July 2026 For example, studies of Hurricane Harvey, which dumped 50 inches of rain in parts of the Houston area in 2017 and caused widespread flooding, concluded that climate change increased the amount of rainfall the storm produced. — Deepti Singh, The Conversation, 24 July 2026 Responding to measles outbreaks has become a widespread and persistent challenge in the US. — Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 24 July 2026 The Park Fire prompted widespread evacuations as flames from the wildfire burned 429,603 acres, or 671 square miles, in Butte, Tehama, Plumas and Shasta counties. — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 24 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for widespread

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of widespread was in the 15th century

Rhymes for widespread

See All Rhymes for widespread

Browse Nearby Words

wide-screen
widespread
wide-spreading
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Widespread.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/widespread. Accessed 26 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

widespread

adjective
wide·​spread ˈwīd-ˈspred How to pronounce widespread (audio)
1
: scattered or found over a wide area
widespread interest in the election
2
: spread out over a wide area
widespread wings

More from Merriam-Webster on widespread

Nglish: Translation of widespread for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of aerie

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All