rife

[rahyf] /raɪf/

adjective

of common or frequent occurrence; prevalent; in widespread existence, activity, or use:

Crime is rife in the slum areas of our cities.

current in speech or report:

Rumors are rife that the government is in financial difficulty.

abundant, plentiful, or numerous.

abounding (usually followed by with).

Origin

before 1150; Middle English; Old English rīfe; cognate with Middle Dutch rijf abundant, Old Norse rīfr

Related forms

rifely, adverb

rifeness, noun

overrife, adjective

unrife, adjective

Can be confused

rife, ripe (see synonym study at ripe)

Synonyms

3. plenteous, multitudinous; teeming, swarming.

Antonyms

3. scarce.

Examples from the web for rife

First, a snail eats cow dung rife with the worm's eggs.
Now that security was removed-and the air seemed rife with suspicion.
Instead, you get voluminous amounts of recycled ideas rife with the latest buzz words and fad getting approved.
The history of technology is rife with stories and accounts of revolutionary approaches overturning the status quo.
Any tinkering, with these life essentials, is rife with unintended consequences and extremely dangerous.
The area of intelligence is especially rife with this conclusion.
Increasingly, the world seems to be rife with contamination.
His own early history, and the record of his films, seems rife with the required anxieties.
As any blogger knows, no matter how clearly and effectively you think you are explaining things, misunderstandings are rife.
Another problem with income tax is that underpayment is rife.

British Dictionary definitions for rife

rife

/raɪf/

adjective (postpositive)

of widespread occurrence; prevalent or current: rumour was rife in the village

very plentiful; abundant

(foll by with) abounding (in): a land rife with poverty

Derived Forms

rifely, adverb
rifeness, noun

Word Origin

Old English rīfe; related to Old Norse rīfr generous, Middle Dutch rīve

Word Origin and History for rife

adj.

Old English rife "abundant, common, prevalent," from Proto-Germanic *rif- (cf. Old Norse rifr, Swedish river, Norwegian riv, Middle Dutch riif, Middle Low German rive "abundant, generous"), said to be from PIE root *rei- "to scratch, tear, cut" "The prevalence of the word in early southern texts is in favour of its being native in English, rather than an adoption from Scandinavian." [OED]