ubiquitous

adjective

ubiq·​ui·​tous yü-ˈbi-kwə-təs How to pronounce ubiquitous (audio)
: existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered : widespread
a ubiquitous fashion
ubiquitously adverb
ubiquitousness noun

Did you know?

To be sure, the title of the Academy Award-winning 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once (starring Academy Award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh as the reluctant hero traversing the multiverse) is the better choice, but may we just say that Ubiquitous would have also made sense as a title? After all, ubiquitous describes the idea of the everything everywhere all at once in the blockbuster movie’s name and does it in one handy four-syllable word. Ubiquitous comes from the noun ubiquity, meaning “presence everywhere or in many places simultaneously,” and both words come ultimately from the Latin word ubique, meaning “everywhere.” Ubiquitous, which has often been used with a touch of exaggeration to describe those things that it seems like you can’t go a day without encountering, is the more popular of the two by a parsec. It may not quite be ubiquitous, but if you keep your eyes and ears open, you’re apt to encounter it quite a bit.

Examples of ubiquitous in a Sentence

Hot dogs are the ideal road trip food—inexpensive, portable, ubiquitous. Paul Lucas, Saveur, June/July 2008
Shawarma is the new street meat. Both a late night favourite and a quick lunch classic, the Middle Eastern dish is now ubiquitous on the streets of Toronto. Chris Dart, Torontoist, 8 Feb. 2007
In major league locker rooms, ice packs are ubiquitous appendages for pitchers, who wrap their shoulder or elbow or both, the better to calm muscles, ligaments and tendons that have been stressed by the unnatural act of throwing a baseball. Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated, 26 Mar. 2007
It was before the day of the ubiquitous automobile. Given one of those present adjuncts to farm life, John would have ended his career much earlier. As it was, they found him lying by the roadside at dawn one morning after the horses had trotted into the yard with the wreck of the buggy bumping the road behind them. Edna Ferber, "Farmer in the Dell," 1919, in One Basket1949
The company's advertisements are ubiquitous. by that time cell phones had become ubiquitous, and people had long ceased to be impressed by the sight of one
Recent Examples on the Web Water is more prevalent than previously believed, and the organic components of life are ubiquitous, according to evidence from new, powerful observatories, including the James Webb Telescope. Chuck Brooks, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 28 Feb. 2024 As Israel’s assault on Gaza continued, so did protests; as the outpouring of Palestinian support grew, so did accusations that such support was contributing to rising antisemitism; as kaffiyehs became ubiquitous, so did claims that the scarves were threatening. Rozina Ali, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2024 Synthetic plastics, which are almost exclusively made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels, have been produced for more than a century and become ubiquitous. Gerald Markowitz, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2024 While the symbol was ubiquitous, the use of rare gems shaped into scarabs would have been confined to super powerful and wealthy pharaohs like Tutankhamun, says Ikram. Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 27 Feb. 2024 The History of the Tea Towel While tea towels are nearly ubiquitous these days, the tea towel's beginnings were far from humble. Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 26 Feb. 2024 Five years from now, will Major Food Group be as ubiquitous as the Cheesecake Factory? Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 23 Feb. 2024 This of course means that any company without a clear sense of both (brand and philosophy) will likely be left behind in the race to capture our hearts as well as our wallets - especially as the explosion of open-source enterprise-ready application models becomes increasingly ubiquitous. Sairah Ashman, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ubiquitous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see ubiquity

First Known Use

1772, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ubiquitous was in 1772

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Dictionary Entries Near ubiquitous

Cite this Entry

“Ubiquitous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ubiquitous. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ubiquitous

adjective
ubiq·​ui·​tous yu̇-ˈbik-wət-əs How to pronounce ubiquitous (audio)
: existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered : widespread
a ubiquitous fashion
ubiquitously adverb
ubiquitousness noun
ubiquity
-wət-ē
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on ubiquitous

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