wide
/waɪd/adjective, adverb, noun
wide is spelled W-I-D-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 91 times per million words in written English, the 1,167th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, wide means “Having a large physical extent from side to side” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in wide?
| Letters | 4: W-I-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 91 times per million words; the 1,167th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is wide?
Wide appears 91 times per million words in written English, the 1,167th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce wide?
- US /waɪd/
- Australia /wɑed/
- /wɛɪd/
Wide has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wide.ogg, En-uk-wide.ogg, En-au-wide.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with wide?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as wide from its last stressed vowel (/aɪd/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of wide
- wider comparative
- more wide comparative
- widest superlative
- most wide superlative
- wides plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wide mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having a large physical extent from side to side.
We walked down a wide corridor.
- 2
Large in scope.
The inquiry had a wide remit.
- 3
derogatoryslangOverweight, obese.
- 4
Operating at the side of the playing area.
That team needs a decent wide player.
- 5
On one side or the other of the mark; too far sideways from the mark, the wicket, the batsman, etc.
Two balls before lunch, he bowled a wide.
- 6
datedMade, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the organs in the mouth.
- 7
ScotlandarchaicVast, great in extent, extensive.
The wide, lifeless expanse.
- 8
obsoleteLocated some distance away; distant, far.
adverb
- 1
Extensively.
He travelled far and wide.
- 2
Completely.
He was wide awake.
- 3
Away from or to one side of a given goal.
The arrow fell wide of the mark.
- 4
So as to leave or have a great space between the sides; so as to form a large opening.
noun
- 1
A ball that passes so far from the batsman that the umpire deems it unplayable; the arm signal used by an umpire to signal a wide; the extra run added to the batting side's score
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wide in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | large |
| German | breit, weit |
| Portuguese | largo, amplo |
| Spanish | ancho, amplio , lateral , a nivel, a escala, por todo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does wide come from?
From Middle English wid, wyd, from Old English wīd (“wide, vast, broad, long; distant, far”), from Proto-Germanic *wīdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to divide, separate”), a dissimilated univerbation from *dwi- (“apart, asunder, in two”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do, put, place”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).