rife

/raɪf/

/raɪf/

Other forms: rifer; rifest; rifely

Use the adjective rife to mean "full of" or "widespread," especially when you're talking about something negative. If the lifeguard says the water is rife with jellyfish, you're not going to want to swim in it.

Not to be confused with the word ripe (“fully developed”), rife means “abundant” or “prevalent.” Rife can follow the word it’s describing, as in “corruption was rife during his administration.” More commonly, however, rife comes before the word it modifies, accompanied by the preposition with, as in “the class was rife with yawns” or “her story was rife with inconsistencies.”

Definitions of rife

1. adjective

   excessively abundant
   synonyms: overabundant, plethoric

   abundant, aplenty

   present in great quantity
2. adjective

   most frequent or common
   synonyms: dominant, predominant, prevailing, prevalent

   frequent

   coming at short intervals or habitually