PREVALENT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Prevalent

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/prˈɛvələnt/ Listen

adjective

Prevalent adj.

Gaining advantage or superiority; having superior force, influence, or efficacy; prevailing; predominant; successful; victorious. "Brennus told the Roman embassadors, that prevalent arms were as good as any title."

Most generally received or current; most widely adopted or practiced; also, generally or extensively existing; widespread; prevailing; as, a prevalent observance; prevalent disease. "This was the most received and prevalent opinion."

Synonyms: Prevailing; predominant; successful; efficacious; powerful. Prevalent, Prevailing. What customarily prevails is prevalent; as, a prevalent fashion. What actually prevails is prevailing; as, the prevailing winds are west. Hence, prevailing is the livelier and more pointed word, since it represents a thing in action. It is sometimes the stronger word, since a thing may prevail sufficiently to be called prevalent, and yet require greater strength to make it actually prevailing.

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Etymology of 'Prevalent'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Prevalent" Quotes from Famous Books

... other," the Professor declared sadly, "and it is, alas! too prevalent. I have had to suffer from it all ...

— The Black Box • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... to by several witnesses, some of who cited cases from their own experience. An erroneous idea seems to be prevalent among certain sections of the laity that the total abolition of pain during labour is possible for every patient. The fear that such relief will be withheld has been suggested as a cause for women seeking the abortionist. ...

— Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Various Aspects of the Problem of Abortion in New Zealand • David G. McMillan

... increasing popular distaste for combinations of capital and a growing activity in the organization of labor. The Sherman Law of 1890 had temporarily quieted the anti-trust movement, while economic depression had checked the extravagance of speculation that had been prevalent everywhere. During the years of depression attention was shifted to tariff and currency, but a new era began with the ...

— The New Nation • Frederic L. Paxson

... parent of the Aurand variety named in honor of Mr. Geo. D. Aurand of Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. The gentleman in the foreground is Mr. Aurand in the act of examining a split in the bark caused by winter-injury. This trouble is fairly prevalent over a great ...

— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Eleventh Annual Meeting - Washington, D. C. October 7 AND 8, 1920 • Various

... of much death and seen many wounded men, I have had no really horrible impressions at all. That side of the business has, I think, been overwritten. The thing that haunts me most is the impression of a prevalent relapse into extreme untidiness, of a universal discomfort, of fields, and of ruined houses treated disregardfully.... But that is not what concerns us now in this discussion. What concerns us now is the fact that this war is producing spectacular ...

— War and the Future • H. G. Wells

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