What does widespread mean?
Word: Widespread
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Widespread means found or happening over a large area or among many people.
Synonyms: common, extensive, general, prevalent
Antonyms: rare, local
How do you spell widespread?
Syllables: wide - spread
Tricky part: Wide keeps its e, and spread has ea, as in bread. Students drop one or the other: widspread or widespred.
Watch out for: widspread, widespred, widesprede
Memory tip: Spread butter wide on bread: wide keeps its e, and spread has the same ea as bread.
Widespread in a sentence
Example 1: There was widespread joy when our team won the match.
Example 2: Mobile phones are now widespread even in small villages.
Example 3: The cyclone caused widespread damage along the Odisha coast.
Fun Fact
In weather forecasts, 'widespread' rain means rain over most of a region. When only some places are likely to get rain, forecasters use words such as scattered or isolated instead.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
widespread
a) massive
b) frequent
c) popular
d) limited
Show answer
d) limited. Something limited stays in a small area, unlike something widespread.
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) thunderstorme
b) widespread
c) sunshien
d) rainfal
Show answer
b) widespread. Rainfall needs a double l, thunderstorm ends in m, and sunshine ends in ine.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
sdiperwade
a) despaired
b) wideness
c) widespread
d) spreadsheet
Show answer
c) widespread. Despaired has no w, and the other two need letters the jumble does not have.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. After the storm there was widespread flooding. This means that ____.
a) one house was flooded
b) the flood was quickly cleared
c) many areas were flooded
d) the flood came very fast
Show answer
c) many areas were flooded
2. Which sentence uses widespread correctly?
a) The news widespread quickly through the town.
b) She widespread the butter thinly on her toast.
c) The widespread of the rumour worried us all.
d) Interest in the new library was widespread in the town.
Show answer
d) Interest in the new library was widespread in the town.
