W. E. B. Du Bois
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English is rife with words that have been handed down to us from Old English—among them, rife. It comes from the Old English adjective rȳfe and first appeared in written form in the 12th century. Its oldest meaning, still in use today, is synonymous with widespread and prevalent; it's more likely, however, than either of those to describe negative things, as in “corruption and greed were rife in City Hall.” Most often, rife is used alongside with to mean “abounding.” Although rife can be appropriately used for good or neutral things in this sense (and all senses), as in the first sentence of this paragraph, like its synonym and fellow Old English descendant lousy (from the Old English noun lūs, meaning “louse”), it tends to describe things one wishes weren’t in such copious supply.
Examples of rife in a Sentence
Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
Rumours are rife in the village and the authorities are no help.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 17 Dec. 2025
Some children left El Fasher with their parents but were separated on the dangerous road along the way, where kidnappings, killings and extortion are rife.
—Rebecca Schneid, Time, 26 Nov. 2025
Mars had a past where liquid water was rife on the surface, and probably spent more than the first billion years of its existence with oceans and rivers throughout its surface.
—Big Think, 6 Nov. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Rife.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rife. Accessed 30 Dec. 2025.
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rife
adjective
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