W. E. B. Du Bois
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English is rife with words that have been handed down to us from Old English—among them, rife. It comes from the Old English adjective rȳfe and first appeared in written form in the 12th century. Its oldest meaning, still in use today, is synonymous with widespread and prevalent; it's more likely, however, than either of those to describe negative things, as in “corruption and greed were rife in City Hall.” Most often, rife is used alongside with to mean “abounding.” Although rife can be appropriately used for good or neutral things in this sense (and all senses), as in the first sentence of this paragraph, like its synonym and fellow Old English descendant lousy (from the Old English noun lūs, meaning “louse”), it tends to describe things one wishes weren’t in such copious supply.
Examples of rife in a Sentence
Jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 July 2025
Speculation over Ouattara’s candidacy has been rife since a court barred former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam from running in June.
—Paige Bruton, semafor.com, 30 July 2025
Clashes between farmers and herders are rife in Nigeria and across the Sahel region, spanning West to Eastern Africa.
—Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 26 July 2025
Right-wing book bans, rife in Escambia and throughout the South, are the product of a political moment.
—Ira Wells
june 18, Literary Hub, 18 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Rife.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rife. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
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rife
adjective
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