Synonyms of sprawling

sprawling

verb

present participle of sprawl

1

as in extending

to extend outwards from or as if from a central point

The suburbs sprawl for miles beyond the city's downtown.

Related Words

• extending
• diverging
• expanding
• radiating
• dividing
• branching
• scattering
• spreading (out)
• splaying
• increasing
• parting
• proliferating
• swelling
• fanning (out)
• separating
• rising
• mushrooming
• dispersing
• escalating
• climbing
• mounting
• enlarging
• multiplying
• forking
• diffusing
• dispensing
• rolling up
• snowballing
• raying
• dissipating
• waxing
• sowing
• gaining

Dissimilar Words

• containing
• limiting
• restricting
• contracting
• diminishing
• decreasing
• dwindling
• focusing
• receding
• waning
• converging
• lessening
• meeting
• joining
• concentrating
• funneling

2

as in sitting

to rest with the arms and legs spread out

There's no feeling like sprawling out on your bed after a hard day's work.

Related Words

• sitting
• flopping
• straddling
• spreading (out)
• stretching (out)
• squatting
• lounging
• resting
• relaxing
• slouching
• reclining
• plopping
• setting
• lying back
• plunking
• lolling
• basking
• plumping
• reposing
• planking
• flumping
• kicking back
• perching
• opening
• expanding
• unfurling
• splaying
• unfolding
• extending
• flaring (out)
• fanning (out)
• outstretching
• outspreading

Dissimilar Words

• standing
• rising
• arising
• getting up

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sprawling

New discoveries at an ancient site in Greece are revealing the remains of a sprawling royal complex where young Macedonians studied and trained — offering new clues about a school tied to one of history's most legendary rulers. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Entire neighborhoods were inundated and the drainage network swamped after over 12 inches of rain fell during two or three days last week, or nearly as much as the sprawling low-lying city usually gets in all of September. — Reuters, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026

Atlanta, the sprawling southern metropolis, is used to serving as a temporary home for the rare black-and-white bears. — Eduardo Cuevas, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026

Once sprawling from Twenty-third to Thirty-fourth Street, the neighborhood has contracted to a single block on Twenty-eighth Street—but has lost none of its charm. — Françoise Mouly, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026

Alan Duarte, 38, grew up in Complexo do Alemao, one of the two sprawling complexes of favelas targeted in Rio’s lethal police operation last year. — ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026

Plant led 18-16 and 20-19 in game two before Orangewood again rallied — including three consecutive aces by senior hitter Isabel Incinelli and a sprawling save by junior Olivia Sosa to keep a key point alive. — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Sep. 2026

Utah Valley is the state's largest university, with about 50,000 students on a sprawling campus beneath the Wasatch Mountains. — Michael R. Sisak, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026

Its signature building was constructed between 1897 and 1900 as the sprawling country residence of Frederick Gilbert Bourne, president of the Singer sewing machine corporation. — Ashley Baker, Vanity Fair, 22 Sep. 2026