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broad definition

broad (brôd)

adjective

  1. of large extent from side to side; wide
  2. having great extent or expanse; spacious broad prairies
  3. extending all about; clear; open; full broad daylight
  4. easy to understand; not subtle; obvious a broad hint
  5. strongly marked: said of dialects or accents
  6. coarse or ribald a broad joke
  7. tolerant; liberal to take a broad view of a matter
  8. wide in range; not limited a broad variety, a broad education
  9. main or general; not detailed in broad outline
  10. Phonet. pronounced with the tongue held low and flat in the mouth; open, esp. as the (ä) of father

Etymology: ME brod < OE brad; akin to Ger breit

adverb

in a broad manner; widely

noun

Slang a woman: sometimes considered offensive

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms broad idiom

broad Synonyms

broad

modif.

  1. Physically wide

    wide, extended, large, extensive, ample, spacious, deep, expansive, immense, roomy, outspread, capacious, outstretched, thick, widespread, broad-gauged, full; see also deep 2, extensive 1, large 1.

    Antonyms narrow*, thin*, slender*, constricted.

  2. Extensive

    ubiquitous, all-inclusive, far-flung; see comprehensive, general 1, widespread.

  3. Culturally wide

    cultivated, experienced, cosmopolitan; see cultured.

  4. Tolerant

    progressive, open-minded, unbiased; see liberal 2.

  5. Indelicate

    dirty, off-color, suggestive, smutty; see lewd 1.

  6. Clear

    unequivocal, explicit, apparent; see obvious 2.

broad and wide both are applied to extent from side to side of surfaces having height or length, wide being preferred when the distance between limits is stressed two feet wide, a wide aperture, and broad, when the full extent of surface is considered broad hips, broad plains; deep, in this connection, refers to extent backward, as from the front or an opening a deep lot, a deep cave


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

broad Usage Examples

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • have: Gregory Hays has described the Greek concept of logos: The term has a semantic range so broad as to be almost untranslatable.

Modifies a noun

  • spectrum: Oliver advises on a broad spectrum of company law matters.

Used with adjective complement

  • build: The canal was to be built broad to take boats off the River Trent and River Soar.

Infinitive complement

  • include: At most 9 of the 60.5 posts were in the private commercial sector, defined at its broadest to include tourist facilities.

Modifying Another Word

  • fairly: This will be a fairly broad discussion; I will try not to deal in detail with the antiquarian background of any particular story.

Preposition: in

  • scope: Moon Lee's interview, meanwhile, is both shorter, at 18 minutes, and broader in scope, discussing her career overall.
broad usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"broad." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/broad>

APA Style

broad. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/broad

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