rife
/rʌɪf
/adjective [predicative]
1(Especially of something undesirable) of common occurrence; widespread: male chauvinism was rife in medicine...
- Spyware is rife and virus infection commonplace yet many home users reckon they are safe from online threats.
- There is no substance in the allegation that unlawful access of phone lines is rife or commonplace.
- Street lights fail to work, litter is strewn everywhere, vandalism is rife, and adolescents roam the streets aimlessly.
Synonyms
widespread, general, common, universal, extensive, ubiquitous, global, omnipresent, everywhere, present everywhere, pandemic, epidemic, endemic, inescapable, insidious, prevalent, penetrating, pervading, pervasive, permeating, immanent
rare permeative, suffusive, permeant
1.1 (rife with) Full of: the streets were rife with rumour and fear...
- Mitchelstown was rife with rumours yesterday of an impending announcement.
- The American media is rife with rumours that the King of Pop will skip the country as soon as he is free.
- It is a town rife with corruption, from city hall on down, and teeming with houses of ill repute.
Synonyms
overflowing, bursting, alive, swarming, teeming, seething, lousy;
abounding in, abundant in, overrun by, full of
adverb
In an unchecked or widespread manner: speculation ran rife that he was an arms dealer...
- Speculation has run rife on all sorts of mad theories about who will get up in each state.
- Rumours ran wild and rife but the band would not play together again until 1993.
Derivatives
rifeness
Origin
Late Old English rȳfe, probably from Old Norse rīfr 'acceptable'.