Standard Lemma guide

pervasive

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /pəˈveɪ.sɪv/
  • Canada, General-American: /pɚˈveɪ.sɪv/
  • California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /pəˈvæɪ.sɪv/
  • Queensland Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Zealand: /pəˈvæɪ.səv/
  • CMU ARPABET: P ER0 V EY1 S IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Manifested throughout; pervading, permeating, penetrating or affecting everything.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The medication had a pervasive effect on the patient's health.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

spreading or spread throughout

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • armed with permeative irony...he punctures affectations
  • the pervasive odor of garlic
  • an error is pervasive if it is material to more than one conclusion

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: permeant, permeating, permeative

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin pervāsus, from pervādō (“spread through, pervade”), from per (“through”) + vādō (“go, walk”).

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: всеобхватен (vseobhvaten) — manifested throughout
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無處不在的 /无处不在的 (wúchùbùzài de) — manifested throughout
  • Danish: gennemtrængende — manifested throughout
  • Dutch: doordringend — manifested throughout
  • Finnish: kokonaisvaltainen — manifested throughout
  • French: pénétrant — manifested throughout
  • French: envahissant — manifested throughout
  • Georgian: გავრცელებული (gavrcelebuli) — manifested throughout
  • Georgian: გაჟღენთილი (gažɣentili) — manifested throughout
  • Georgian: შემვსები (šemvsebi) — manifested throughout
  • Georgian: ამვსები (amvsebi) — manifested throughout
  • Georgian: შემღწევი (šemɣc̣evi) — manifested throughout
  • German: durchdringend — manifested throughout
  • Hungarian: átható — manifested throughout
  • Māori: rangiwhāwhā — manifested throughout
  • Norwegian: gjennomtrengende — manifested throughout
  • Persian: فراگیر (farâgir) — manifested throughout
  • Polish: wszechobecny — manifested throughout
  • Polish: wszechogarniający — manifested throughout
  • Portuguese: pervasivo — manifested throughout
  • Russian: распространяющийся (rasprostranjajuščijsja) — manifested throughout
  • Russian: проникающий (pronikajuščij) — manifested throughout
  • Russian: пропитывающий (propityvajuščij) — manifested throughout
  • Russian: заполняющий (zapolnjajuščij) — manifested throughout
  • Spanish: penetrante — manifested throughout
  • Spanish: determinante — manifested throughout
  • Spanish: dominante — manifested throughout
  • Spanish: ubicuo — manifested throughout
  • Spanish: pervasivo — manifested throughout
  • Swedish: genomträngande — manifested throughout
  • Swedish: genomgående — manifested throughout
  • Turkish: yaygın — manifested throughout
  • Vietnamese: lan toả — manifested throughout
  • Vietnamese: rộng khắp — manifested throughout