diffuse
- 01 C1 Advanced
v.to spread out slowly through a liquid, the air, or a large area.
v.to spread or scatter widely; in physics, the movement of particles from an area of high concentration to low concentration.
Simple“The smell of fresh coffee began to diffuse through the entire house.”
In context“The dye will diffuse through the water until the liquid reaches a uniform shade of blue.”
UsageUsed both transitively (to diffuse something) and intransitively (something diffuses).
Antonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
adj.using too many words to explain something.
adj.using more words than necessary; lacking conciseness in speech or writing.
Simple“His writing style is quite diffuse, making it hard to find his main point.”
In context“The professor's diffuse lecture style often led the class far away from the original topic of discussion.”
“Created when light is absorbed, excitons diffuse through the semiconducting material before they can dissociate into free charge carriers to generate electricity.”
“The effects of idling reduction laws are hard to estimate, in part because the pollution from idling is diffuse and intermittent.”
From Middle French diffuser, from Latin diffūsus, past participle of diffundere, from dis- + fundere.
From Middle English *diffuse (attested in adverb diffuseli), from Latin diffūsus.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.