broadly

B3R1O1A1D2L1Y4
UK/ˈbɹɔːdli/British, Southern, Standard/ˈbɹoːdlɪj/US/ˈbɹɔdli/US, cot caught merger/ˈbɹɑdli/

adverb

Widely and openly.

Opposite
CommonScrabble 13

Meanings

adverbbroadly (comparative more broadly, superlative most broadly)

comparative more broadly · superlative most broadly

  1. Widely and openly.

    [W]hen he caught sight of her running towards him like that, he smiled broadly.

    1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 16
  2. Broadly speaking; in a wide manner; liberally; in a loose sense.

    That’s broadly consistent with the Real Clear Politics average of all general election matchups between the two; RCP shows Biden with an average of a 6-point lead over Sanders.

    2020 April 8, Chris Cillizza, “Why Joe Biden starts as the general election front-runner”, in CNN, archived from the original on 23 May 2025
    2 more examples

    All these were based broadly on the management framework of the old companies, except that the former Southern and North Eastern Areas of the old L.N.E.R. became separate management units, while the former L.M.S.R. and L.N.E.R. lines north of the Border were fused into a self-contained Scottish Region.

    1958 January 28, 'Borderer', “Ten Years of British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 13

    While companies are bravely talking about their efforts to redress the gender pay gap (large employers will be compelled to report details of how they pay their male and female staff in April), we know that women are, on average, much worse paid than men throughout the City. Broadly, power remains in men’s hands.

    2018 January 25, Amelia Gentleman, “Men-only clubs and menace: how the establishment maintains male power”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2021

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbwithout regard to specific details or exceptions

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰer-der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*braidaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*braid
  4. Old Englishbrād
  5. Middle Englishbrod
  6. Englishbroad
  7. Englishbroadly

From broad + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

broadly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/broadly

MLA

“broadly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/broadly. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “broadly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/broadly.

Source: broadly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.