Broad vs. Wide — What's the Difference?

Covering a large area or scope.

Having a great extent from side to side.

General without minute details.

Covering a large number or range.

Not limited or narrow in scope.

Fully open or extended.

Wide in extent from side to side

Of great or more than average width

Large in expanse; spacious

Including a great variety of people or things

Having a certain width from side to side

At a considerable or specified distance from an intended point or target

Full; open

To the full extent

Covering a wide scope; general

Far from a particular or intended point or target

Liberal; tolerant

A ball that is judged to be too wide of the stumps for the batsman to play, for which an extra is awarded to the batting side.

Relating to or covering the main facts or the essential points

Having a specified extent from side to side

Plain and clear; obvious

Extending over a great distance from side to side; broad

Vulgar; ribald

Having great extent or range; including much or many

Strikingly regional or dialectal

Fully open or extended

(Linguistics) Pronounced with the tongue placed low and flat and with the oral cavity wide open, like the a in father.

To the side of or at a distance from a given boundary, limit, or goal

A wide flat part, as of one's hand.

(Baseball) Outside.

Offensive Slang A woman or girl.

(Sports) Being toward or near one of the side boundaries of a playing area, such as a sideline on a football field.

Fully; completely.

Deviating or straying from something expected or specified

Wide in extent or scope.

(Linguistics) Lax.

Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full.

Over a great distance; extensively

Having a large measure of any thing or quality; unlimited; unrestrained.

To the full extent; completely.

Comprehensive; liberal; enlarged.

To the side of or at a distance from a given boundary, limit, or goal.

Plain; evident.

(Sports) Toward or near one of the sides of a playing area

General rather than specific.

A ball bowled outside of the batsman's reach, counting as a run for the batting team in cricket.

(writing) Unsubtle; obvious.

Having a large physical extent from side to side.

Free; unrestrained; unconfined.

Large in scope.

(dated) Gross; coarse; indelicate.

(sports) Operating at the side of the playing area.

(of an accent) Strongly regional.

On one side or the other of the mark; too far sideways from the mark, the wicket, the batsman, etc.

(Gaelic languages) Velarized, i.e. not palatalized.

Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the organs in the mouth.

(UK) A shallow lake, one of a number of bodies of water in eastern Norfolk and Suffolk.

Vast, great in extent, extensive.

A lathe tool for turning down the insides and bottoms of cylinders.

(obsolete) Located some distance away; distant, far.

A British gold coin worth 20 shillings, issued by the Commonwealth of England in 1656.

(obsolete) Far from truth, propriety, necessity, etc.

A kind of floodlight.

(computing) Of or supporting a greater range of text characters than can fit into the traditional 8-bit representation.

A playing card.

Antagonistic, provocative.

(dated) A prostitute, a woman of loose morals.

Extensively

A woman or girl.

Completely

Wide; extend in breadth, or from side to side; - opposed to narrow; as, a broad street, a broad table; an inch broad.

Away from or to one side of a given goal

Extending far and wide; extensive; vast; as, the broad expanse of ocean.

So as to leave or have a great space between the sides; so as to form a large opening.

Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full.

(cricket) 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

Fig.: Having a large measure of any thing or quality; not limited; not restrained; - applied to any subject, and retaining the literal idea more or less clearly, the precise meaning depending largely on the substantive.

Having considerable distance or extent between the sides; spacious across; much extended in a direction at right angles to that of length; not narrow; broad; as, wide cloth; a wide table; a wide highway; a wide bed; a wide hall or entry.

Comprehensive; liberal; enlarged.

Having a great extent every way; extended; spacious; broad; vast; extensive; as, a wide plain; the wide ocean; a wide difference.

Plain; evident; as, a broad hint.

Of large scope; comprehensive; liberal; broad; as, wide views; a wide understanding.

Free; unrestrained; unconfined.

Of a certain measure between the sides; measuring in a direction at right angles to that of length; as, a table three feet wide.

Characterized by breadth. See Breadth.

Remote; distant; far.

Cross; coarse; indelicate; as, a broad compliment; a broad joke; broad humor.

Far from truth, from propriety, from necessity, or the like.

Strongly marked; as, a broad Scotch accent.

On one side or the other of the mark; too far side-wise from the mark, the wicket, the batsman, etc.

The broad part of anything; as, the broad of an oar.

Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the mouth organs; - opposed to primary as used by Mr. Bell, and to narrow as used by Mr. Sweet. The effect, as explained by Mr. Bell, is due to the relaxation or tension of the pharynx; as explained by Mr. Sweet and others, it is due to the action of the tongue. The wide of ē (ēve) is ĭ (ĭll); of ā (āte) is ĕ (ĕnd), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, 13-15.

The spread of a river into a sheet of water; a flooded fen.

Having or showing a wide difference between the highest and lowest price, amount of supply, etc.; as, a wide opening; wide prices, where the prices bid and asked differ by several points.

A lathe tool for turning down the insides and bottoms of cylinders.

To a distance; far; widely; to a great distance or extent; as, his fame was spread wide.

A woman, especially one who is sexually promiscuous; - usually considered offensive.

So as to leave or have a great space between the sides; so as to form a large opening.

Slang term for a woman;

So as to be or strike far from, or on one side of, an object or purpose; aside; astray.

Having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other;

That which is wide; wide space; width; extent.

Broad in scope or content;

That which goes wide, or to one side of the mark.

Not detailed or specific;

Having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other;

Lacking subtlety; obvious;

Broad in scope or content;

Being at a peak or culminating point;

(used of eyes) fully open or extended;

Very large in expanse or scope;

Very large in expanse or scope;

(of speech) heavily and noticeably regional;

Great in degree;

Showing or characterized by broad-mindedness;

Great in range or scope;

Wide in extent from side to side.

Having ample fabric;

Encompassing a wide range of varieties.

Not on target;

With or by a broad space;

To the fullest extent possible;

Far from the intended target;

To or over a great extent or range; far;

Far from a target or mark.

Extensive in area or space.

"Wide-ranging interests" or "a wide array of options."

Yes, "wide" often quantifies specific horizontal extents.

Yes, like "broad valleys" or "broad horizons."

Yes, such as "broad knowledge" or "broadly speaking."

Yes, like "in broad daylight."

Rarely. It's more about scope or extent.

Yes, as in "He grinned wide."

Yes, for instance, "by a wide margin."

No, while they can often replace each other, there are contexts where one is more appropriate.

Typically, "broad" carries a more general or expansive connotation.

It can be, as in "a wide variety of sources."

Yes, one might have a "broad understanding" of a subject.

Yes, as in "eyes wide open."

Yes, as in "a broad coalition of supporters."

Yes, similar to "broad", "wide" can indicate inclusivity as in "wide acceptance."