What does worldwide mean?
Word: Worldwide
Part of Speech: Adjective, adverb
Meaning: Worldwide means found in, or reaching, every part of the world rather than one country or region.
Synonyms: global, international, universal
Antonyms: regional
How do you spell worldwide?
Syllables: world - wide
Tricky part: Oxford gives this as one word, worldwide, with no hyphen; world-wide is an older form you will still meet in older books. Inside it, the l of world is easy to drop when speaking fast, and wide keeps its e.
Watch out for: wolrdwide, werldwide, worldwid
Memory tip: The world is large, and large gives you the l: w-o-r-l-d. Then join wide straight on with no gap, just as the whole world is one piece.
Worldwide in a sentence
Example 1: Yoga now has a worldwide following.
Example 2: The cricket World Cup final drew a worldwide television audience.
Example 3: Scientists are working together on a worldwide plan to protect coral reefs.
Fun Fact
The www at the start of many web addresses stands for World Wide Web, the system Tim Berners-Lee proposed in 1989. Its name is still written as three separate words.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word worldwide as used in the sentence:
The company began as a small shop in Pune but now runs a worldwide business.
a) huge
b) growing
c) local
d) global
Show answer
c) local. A worldwide business reaches every corner of the world; one that serves only nearby customers is local.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
wor_dw_d_
a) r, i, e
b) l, i, e
c) l, y, e
d) e, i, e
Show answer
b) l, i, e. World needs the l you barely hear, and wide keeps a plain i and its final e.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. enviroment 2. pollusion 3. goverment 4. worldwide
a) found across the whole world
b) harm done to air, water or land
c) the natural world around us
d) the group of people who rule a country
Show answer
a) found across the whole world. Government and environment each hide an n before the m, and pollution ends in tion.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is a worldwide problem?
a) a broken classroom bench
b) a leaking kitchen tap
c) rising sea levels
d) a flat bicycle tyre
Show answer
c) rising sea levels
2. Which word could replace worldwide in 'a worldwide search for the missing yacht'?
a) neighbourhood
b) national
c) careful
d) international
Show answer
d) international
