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English speakers borrowed pervade in the mid-17th century from Latin pervadere, meaning "to go through." Pervadere, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix per-, meaning "through," with the verb vadere, meaning "to go." Synonyms of pervade include permeate, impregnate, and saturate. Pervade stresses a spreading diffusion throughout every part of a whole ("art and music pervade every aspect of their lives"). Permeate implies diffusion specifically throughout a material thing ("the smell of freshly baked bread permeated the house"). Impregnate suggests a forceful influence or effect on something throughout ("impregnate the cotton with alcohol"). Saturate is used when nothing more may be taken up or absorbed ("the cloth is saturated with water").
Examples of pervade in a Sentence
Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2025
Attachment theory pervades an institution that seems fixated on severing teens’ bonds with parents who are invariably discovered to be, if not complete monsters, at least ill-suited for the task of caring for their own children.
—Judy Berman, Time, 25 Sep. 2025
From there, kabocha likely pervaded other parts of Asia through trade.
—Bradley Hohulin, IndyStar, 19 Sep. 2025
Either way, those quotation marks are the first signs of a cynicism that pervades Reza’s project, now expanding to enshroud this whole production.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pervade
Cite this Entry
“Pervade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pervade. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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