Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Distributed or occurring over a large area or among many people: Extending over a wide geographical region or affecting a large number of individuals.
   • Extensively circulated, accepted, or encountered: Widely known, diffused, or prevalent.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The storm caused widespread damage across three states.
  • There is widespread support for the new environmental policy.
  • The use of smartphones is now widespread in modern society.
  • The news of the scandal led to widespread public outrage.

Advanced Usage

• "Widespread belief/opinion": A view or conviction held by a large proportion of a population.
  • There is a widespread belief that education is the key to progress.
• "Widespread use/application": Common or extensive employment of something.
  • The widespread use of antibiotics has led to resistance in some bacteria.
• "Widespread availability": The state of being easy to obtain or access in many places.
  • The internet has led to the widespread availability of information.

Variants and Related Words

• Widely (adverb): To a wide extent; commonly.
  • The theory is widely accepted by scientists.
• Pervasive (adjective): Spreading widely throughout an area or group of people (often used for abstract things like influence or feelings).
  • A pervasive sense of anxiety filled the room.
• Prevalent (adjective): Widespread in a particular area or at a particular time.
  • Flu is most prevalent during the winter months.

Synonyms

• Extensive: Covering a large area or scope.
• Common: Occurring, found, or done often; prevalent.
• Universal: Of, affecting, or done by all people or things in the world or in a particular group; applicable everywhere.
• Rife (especially of something undesirable): Of common occurrence; widespread.

Antonyms

• Localized: Restricted to a particular place or part.
• Limited: Restricted in size, amount, or extent.
• Uncommon: Not occurring, found, or done often; rare.
• Confined: Kept within limits; restricted.

Adjective

1. distributed over a considerable extent
   • far-flung trading operations
   • the West's far-flung mountain ranges
   • widespread nuclear fallout
2. widely circulated or diffused
   • a widespread doctrine
   • widespread fear of nuclear war