pervasive
adjective
Shaun Harper
Did you know?
Is pervasive always negative?
Pervasive is most often used of things we don't really want spreading throughout all parts of something:
a pervasive problem
a stench that is pervasive
pervasive corruption
But pervasive can occasionally also be found in neutral and even positive contexts:
a pervasive rhythm
a pervasive sense of calm
The meaning isn't neutral when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) uses it. Beginning in the early 1990s, the MPAA started giving the R rating to movies with "pervasive language." Most movies have language throughout, of course. The MPAA is using the phrase "pervasive language" to refer to the frequent use of a particular kind of language: profanity.
Examples of pervasive in a Sentence
Mark Slouka, Harper's, November 2004
The manic money-grab excitement of the Nineties had never been altogether free of our pervasive American guilt.
—Norman Mailer, New York Review of Books, 27 Mar. 2002
Race was never articulated as an issue at the trial, even though its presence was pervasive.
—Howard Chua-Eoan, Time, 6 Mar. 2000
the pervasive nature of the problem
television's pervasive influence on our culture
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 10 Mar. 2026
The resulting collapse of campaign finance rules has combined with a resurgence in the sort of high-level self-dealing that was pervasive during the Gilded Age, when bribery and graft were common, and corporations used their wealth to secure monopolies, government subsidies, and other benefits.
—Daniel Weiner, Time, 9 Mar. 2026
There’s a pervasive sense in the area that the risks are real; the local water utility recently installed a $46-million carbon-filtration system to clear the region’s drinking water.
—Patrick Sisson, Scientific American, 9 Mar. 2026
While exhaustion and poor sleep are still pervasive, the importance of sleep health is going mainstream as a cornerstone of health, energy, and vitality.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pervasive
Cite this Entry
“Pervasive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pervasive. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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pervasive
adjective
