broad
adjective
of great breadth.
broad
1 American
[brawd]
/ brɔd /
adjective
broader,
comparative
broadest
superlative
-
of great breadth.
The river was too broad to swim across.
- Antonyms:
- narrow
-
measured from side to side.
The desk was three feet broad.
-
of great extent; large.
the broad expanse of ocean.
-
We awoke to broad daylight.
-
not limited or narrow; of extensive range or scope.
A modern doctor must have a broad knowledge of medicine.
-
A broad interpretation of the law tempers justice with mercy.
-
main or general.
the broad outlines of a subject.
-
plain or clear.
Her remark was a broad hint of her feelings.
-
He smirked at the broad joke.
- Synonyms:
- gross
-
(of conversation) rough; countrified.
-
unconfined; unbridled; unrestrained;
It was a hilarious evening of broad mirth.
-
(of pronunciation) strongly dialectal.
He wore kilts and had a broad Scots accent.
-
Phonetics. (of a transcription) using one basic symbol to represent each phoneme.
-
broad a, the a- sound when used in lieu of the more common a- sound in such words as half, can't, and laugh.
adverb
noun
broads
plural
-
the broad part of anything.
-
Slang.
-
Usually Offensive. a term used to refer to a woman.
-
a promiscuous woman.
-
-
Movies, Television. Often broads. an incandescent or fluorescent lamp used as a general source of light in a studio.
-
a gold coin of England and Scotland, issued by James I and Charles I and equal to 20 shillings.
idioms
-
broad on the quarter, bearing 135° to the heading of a vessel.
-
broad on the bow, bearing 45° to the heading of a vessel.
-
broad on the beam, bearing 90° to the heading of a vessel.
Broad
2
American
[brawd]
/ brɔd /
noun
broad
British
/ brɔːd /
adjective
-
having relatively great breadth or width
-
of vast extent; spacious
a broad plain
-
(postpositive) from one side to the other
four miles broad
-
of great scope or potential
that invention had broad applications
-
not detailed; general
broad plans
-
clear and open; full (esp in the phrase broad daylight )
-
obvious or plain
broad hints
-
liberal; tolerant
a broad political stance
-
widely spread; extensive
broad support
-
outspoken or bold
a broad manner
-
vulgar; coarse; indecent
a broad joke
-
unrestrained; free
broad laughter
-
(of a dialect or pronunciation) consisting of a large number of speech sounds characteristic of a particular geographical area
a broad Yorkshire accent
-
finance denoting an assessment of liquidity as including notes and coin in circulation with the public, banks' till money and balances, most private-sector bank deposits, and sterling bank-deposit certificates Compare narrow
broad money
-
phonetics
-
of or relating to a type of pronunciation transcription in which symbols correspond approximately to phonemes without taking account of allophonic variations
-
the long vowel in English words such as father , half , as represented in the received pronunciation of Southern British English
-
-
amounting to the same thing; without advantage either way
noun
-
the broad part of something
-
slang
-
a girl or woman
-
a prostitute
-
-
dialect a river spreading over a lowland See also Broads
-
dialect a shallow lake
-
a wood-turning tool used for shaping the insides and bottoms of cylinders
adverb
broad
More Idioms
Sensitive Note
When used to refer to a woman, broad is usually perceived as insulting. The meaning “promiscuous woman” is probably the earlier sense.
Synonym Usage
See wide.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of broad
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bro(a)d, Old English brād; cognate with Dutch breed, German breit, Old Norse breithr, Gothic braiths
Explanation
The adjective broad boasts an extensive — you might even say broad — array of subtly different meanings including wide, spacious, far-reaching, vague, and unsubtle. It's kind of funny that the word broad can communicate such an expansive range of ideas since expansive is, in fact, a synonym for broad. This adjective can be used to describe actual physical spaces. A broad highway, for example, would be difficult to cross because of all the cars in the many lanes of the road. The word can also be used more figuratively. American history covers a broad range of topics and events. A broad-minded person is open to new ideas, while broad humor aims for a mass audience with obvious gags and stunts.
Vocabulary lists containing broad
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The Star Spangled Banner
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These offices run parallel to the agency’s substantive work, addressing broad management issues and conducting investigations of fraud both in and around the agency.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
"So far, we're not seeing broad spillovers of higher energy prices," Macklem said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Instead of painting a broad picture that included all leading forms of content distribution — movie theaters, broadcast and cable television as well as streaming platforms — the states zeroed in on three distinct slices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Reports suggest it failed to attract as many customers as Microsoft wanted, and Sharma has said attempts to release a broad range of games on the service left the company "over-extended".
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Now she followed a broad path from the village to the stream.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Broad adoption of alternative assets is indeed the administration’s goal.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
The project was a collaboration among researchers at Harvard, the Broad Institute, DNA Script, and later POSTECH.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
Broad Leib said she strongly believes this law is a step in the right direction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
As for Stokes, this is where he sealed his only Ashes series triumph – the one-handed wonder catch off a stunned Stuart Broad in 2015.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
Broad white hats in a dappled pattern hid their heads, and she realized that if they ducked down into the flowers, they would practically disappear.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
“Us old broads are trying to learn the new technology because, I mean, we’re kind of trapped,” said Linda Harner, whom I met at the Culver City Senior Center, where she takes a Spanish class.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2022
There were broads smiles and a joyful unity.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2022
This is a workout for ladies, by which she means older broads who might appreciate the occasional low-impact leg lifts.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 9, 2019
“I think they just bonded over overcoming their experiences, and being great broads, and being tremendous mothers,” she explained.
From Fox News ● Nov. 30, 2018
It is common in all the larger shallow lakes of Central Europe, and abounds in the "broads" which extend from Potsdam to Hamburg, though it is unknown in the British Isles.
From More Science From an Easy Chair by Lankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray), Sir
In his view, it shows that investors are interested in evaluating memory-chip makers on their own given the role they play in the AI buildout, rather than as part of the broader chip sector.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
“Operationally, FY 2027 performance will continue to be influenced by the broader macroeconomic environment but as we have demonstrated, we have a resilient business and can adapt quickly,” it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Changes in feeding, movement, and fear can spread through ecosystems, affecting grazing patterns, predator-prey relationships, and broader ecological stability.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
Totoro’s real launch into pop culture’s stratosphere came a year later, when NTV brought his namesake movie to a broader audience, exploding its fandom beyond Japan.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Remember the broader consciousness that comes with that.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
That may not necessarily be unique in the broadest span of TV history, but it’s rare enough for the layperson to recognize the difference between a James Burrows show and those of other directors.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
David Hockney, who has died aged 88, was Britain's favourite artist - and a man of trenchant views, expressed in the broadest of Yorkshire vowels.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
The broadest category of high-tech employment, including software development and computer design, totaled 2.37 million jobs in May.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026
The current account is the broadest indicator of a country’s trading and investing relationship with other nations, and a deficit may reflect a low level of national savings relative to investment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
The picture is clear only in its broadest strokes.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.