prevalent

adjective

opposition to the war is prevalent

Syn:

widespread, prevailing, frequent, usual, common, current, popular, general, universal; endemic, rampant, rife

Ant:

rare

••

prevalent, prevailing, abundant, plentiful, rife, copious, common

Wildflowers might be prevalent in the mountains during the spring months, but a particular type of wildflower might be the prevailing one. Prevalent, in other words, implies widespread occurrence or acceptance in a particular place or time (a prevalent belief during the nineteenth century), while prevailing suggests that something exists in such quantity that it surpasses or leads all others in acceptance, usage, or belief (the prevailing theory about the evolution of man). Wildflowers might also be abundant in the valleys — a word that, unlike prevalent and prevailing, is largely restricted to observations about a place and may suggest oversupply (an abundant harvest | indications of decay were abundant). Plentiful, on the other hand, refers to a large or full supply without the connotations of oversupply (a country where jobs were plentiful). If wildflowers are rife, it means that they are not only prevalent but spreading rapidly (speculation was rife among the soldiers); if they're copious, it means they are being produced in such quantity that they constitute a rich or flowing abundance (weep copious tears). What often happens, with wildflowers as well as with other beautiful things, is that they become so abundant they are regarded as common, a word meaning usual or ordinary (the common cold). Like prevalent, common can apply to a time as well as a place (an expression common during the Depression). But neither abundant nor common connotes dominance as clearly as prevalent does.