widespread

widespread — adjective

1. affecting a very large number of people or covering a very large area — for exam

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

affecting a very large number of people or covering a very large area — for example, a custom that many communities follow, a problem found across many schools, or a belief held by most people in a society.

Example

There is widespread support for building a new park in the neighborhood.

collocation: widespread support

The flu caused widespread illness among students at Diya's school last winter.

Common collocations
  • widespread support
  • widespread use
  • widespread belief
  • widespread concern
  • widespread damage
  • widespread acceptance
  • widespread criticism
  • widespread illness
Synonyms
  • common

    less formal; focuses on frequency rather than geographical or population coverage

  • prevalent

    more formal; suggests something is dominant or typical in a given area or group

  • extensive

    emphasises the large area something covers, but less natural with human-group subjects

  • ubiquitous

    much stronger; suggests something is found everywhere, often hyperbolically

Antonyms
  • limited

    restricted in scope, area, or number

  • rare

    not happening often or found in few places

  • local

    contained within a small area rather than spread widely

Grammar Patterns

widespread + noun (attributive)

be + widespread (predicative)

Usage Note

Typically modifies abstract nouns (support, use, belief, concern, illness) rather than concrete physical objects. You would not normally say 'a widespread table' to mean a wide table.

Common Mistakes

A widespread river flows through the valley.
A wide river flows through the valley.
'Widespread' refers to how far something reaches across people or places, not physical width.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four describe something found in many places or among many people, but they differ in strength and register. 'Widespread' emphasises geographical or demographic reach — a practice or problem that stretches across a region or population. 'Common' is the most everyday word; it focuses on frequency of occurrence rather than the expanse of coverage: rain is common in April but not necessarily widespread across the country. 'Prevalent' is more formal and suggests dominance — the prevailing practice or view in a particular setting. 'Ubiquitous' is the strongest and most literary, suggesting that something is literally everywhere (e.g. smartphones are ubiquitous in modern cities). In a news article about a health crisis, 'widespread illness' is a measured factual claim; 'ubiquitous illness' would sound exaggerated.

widespread ↗common ↗prevalent ↗ubiquitous ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • increasingly widespread
  • fairly widespread
  • geographically widespread
  • historically widespread

Prepositions

  • widespread among
  • widespread throughout
  • widespread across
  • widespread in

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed by combining the adverb 'wide' (from Old English 'wid', meaning 'large in extent') with 'spread' (from Old English 'sprædan', meaning 'to stretch out or scatter'). The compound first appeared in English in the early 1700s, originally used for physical objects spread out over an area, and later extended to abstract ideas such as beliefs, customs, and problems affecting large populations.