rife
Adjective Satellite
- most frequent or common
- excessively abundant
Adj
- Widespread, common, prevalent, current (mainly of unpleasant or harmful things).
- Abounding; present in large numbers, plentiful.
- Full of (mostly unpleasant or harmful things).
- Having power; active; nimble.
Adv
- Plentifully, abundantly.
Adjective
- Abundant or widespread, especially with something undesirable.
Examples
- Many post-colonial governments were rife with lawlessness and corruption.
- Red deer are rife in these woodlands.
- Seeds are rife in a watermelon.
- Smallpox was rife after the siege had been lifted.
- The board was RIFE with potential hooks, making every word a risk and an opportunity.
- The snowdrops grow rife on the slopes of Mount Pembroke.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English rife, from Old English rīfe, rȳfe (“rife, abundant, frequent”), from Proto-West Germanic *rīb, from Proto-Germanic *rībaz (“generous”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to tear (off), rip”). Cognate with West Frisian rju (“rife, much”), Dutch rijf (“abundant, copious”), Low German rive (“abundant, munificent”), Icelandic rífur (“rife, munificent”), Faroese ríviligur (“plentiful, abundant”), Faroese rívan (“abundantly”), Icelandic reifa (“to bestow”).
Synonyms
dominant, overabundant, plethoric, predominant, prevailing, prevalent, filled, pandemic, plentiful, ubiquitous, widespread
Scrabble Score: 7
rife: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordrife: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
rife: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary