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adjective ubiq·ui·tous \yü-ˈbi-kwə-təs\

Simple Definition of ubiquitous

  • : seeming to be seen everywhere

Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary

Full Definition of ubiquitous

  1. :  existing or being everywhere at the same time :  constantly encountered :  widespread <a ubiquitous fashion>





Examples of ubiquitous in a sentence

  1. Hot dogs are the ideal road trip food—inexpensive, portable, ubiquitous. —Paul Lucas, Saveur, June/July 2008

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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 Basket, 1949

  5. The company's advertisements are ubiquitous.

  6. <by that time cell phones had become ubiquitous, and people had long ceased to be impressed by the sight of one>

Did You Know?

Ubiquitous comes to us from the noun ubiquity, meaning "presence everywhere or in many places simultaneously." Ubiquity first appeared in print in the late 16th century, but ubiquitous didn't make an appearance until 1830. (Another noun form, ubiquitousness, arrived around 1874.) Both words are ultimately derived from the Latin word for "everywhere," which is ubique. Ubiquitous, which has often been used with a touch of exaggeration for things and people that seem to turn up everywhere, has become a more widespread and popular word than ubiquity. It may not quite be ubiquitous, but if you keep your eyes and ears open, you're apt to encounter the word ubiquitous quite a bit.

Origin and Etymology of ubiquitous

(see ubiquity)

First Known Use: 1830

Rhymes with ubiquitous

Seen and Heard



of striking ability or excellence

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