Standard Lemma guide

widespread

adj · 4 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.

  • /ˌwaɪdˈspɹɛd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈwaɪdˌspɹɛd/ prenominal
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: W AY1 D S P R EH1 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Affecting, or found throughout, a large area (e.g. the entire land or body); broad in extent; widely diffused.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • widespread belief
  • widespread criticism
  • widespread acceptance
  • There was widespread support for the proposal.
  • The storm caused widespread damage.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Spread far apart.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncommon

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

distributed over a considerable extent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • far-flung trading operations
  • the West's far-flung mountain ranges
  • widespread nuclear fallout

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: far-flung

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

widely circulated or diffused

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a widespread doctrine
  • widespread fear of nuclear war

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From wide + spread.

Across languages

Translations

53 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: широко разпространен (široko razprostranen) — affecting a large area
  • Bulgarian: обширен (obširen) — affecting a large area
  • Catalan: estès — affecting a large area
  • Chinese Mandarin: 廣泛 /广泛 (guǎngfàn) — affecting a large area
  • Czech: rozšířený — affecting a large area
  • Dutch: wijdverspreid — affecting a large area
  • Finnish: laajalle levinnyt — affecting a large area
  • Finnish: laaja — affecting a large area
  • French: répandu — affecting a large area
  • French: généralisé — affecting a large area
  • Galician: extenso — affecting a large area
  • Georgian: გავრცელებული (gavrcelebuli) — affecting a large area
  • Georgian: ფართოდ გავრცელებული (partod gavrcelebuli) — affecting a large area
  • German: weitläufig — affecting a large area
  • German: weitverbreitet — affecting a large area
  • German: weit verstreut — affecting a large area
  • Greek: διαδεδομένος (diadedoménos) — affecting a large area
  • Hungarian: elterjedt — affecting a large area
  • Icelandic: útbreiddur — affecting a large area
  • Irish: go forleathan — affecting a large area
  • Italian: ampio — affecting a large area
  • Italian: diffuso — affecting a large area
  • Italian: esteso — affecting a large area
  • Latin: lātus — affecting a large area
  • Latin: pervagātus — affecting a large area
  • Macedonian: широко распространет (široko rasprostranet) — affecting a large area
  • Māori: tukupū — affecting a large area
  • Māori: tukipū — affecting a large area
  • Māori: rangiwhāwhā — affecting a large area
  • Māori: mawhera — affecting a large area
  • Māori: pārāweranui — affecting a large area
  • Polish: rozpowszechniony — affecting a large area
  • Polish: powszechny — affecting a large area
  • Portuguese: difuso — affecting a large area
  • Portuguese: difundido — affecting a large area
  • Portuguese: amplo — affecting a large area
  • Portuguese: generalizado — affecting a large area
  • Portuguese: lato — affecting a large area
  • Romanian: răspândit — affecting a large area
  • Romanian: extins — affecting a large area
  • Russian: широко́ распространённый (širokó rasprostranjónnyj) — affecting a large area
  • Serbo-Croatian: raširen — affecting a large area
  • Spanish: amplio — affecting a large area
  • Spanish: común — affecting a large area
  • Spanish: extendido — affecting a large area
  • Spanish: extenso — affecting a large area
  • Spanish: generalizado — affecting a large area
  • Spanish: masivo — affecting a large area
  • Swedish: utbredd — affecting a large area
  • Swedish: omfattande — affecting a large area
  • Turkish: yaygın — affecting a large area
  • Ukrainian: широ́ко поши́рений (šyróko pošýrenyj) — affecting a large area
  • Ukrainian: розповсю́джений (rozpovsjúdženyj) — affecting a large area
Real reading context

widespread in complete knowledge articles