sweeping

/ˈswipɪŋ/

/ˈswipɪŋ/

Other forms: sweepings

Something that's sweeping is wide-ranging or thorough. A political candidate might campaign on promises to bring sweeping change to a country.

Sweeping things can be extensive, like the sweeping powers a president has in a dictatorship, or curving, like the sweeping motion a dancer makes with his arm. Sweeping can also mean "overly broad," so if you make a sweeping generalization, you take a general idea or rule and apply it too widely, without allowing any exceptions to it.

Definitions of sweeping

1. adjective

   taking in or moving over (or as if over) a wide area; often used in combination
   “a sweeping glance”

   “a wide-sweeping view of the river”

   synonyms:

   broad, wide

   having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
2. adjective

   broad in scope or content
   synonyms: across-the-board, all-embracing, all-encompassing, all-inclusive, blanket, broad, encompassing, extensive, panoptic, wide

   comprehensive, overarching

   including all or everything
3. adjective

   ignoring distinctions
   “sweeping generalizations”

   synonyms: wholesale

   indiscriminate

   not marked by fine distinctions
4. noun

   the act of cleaning with a broom
   type of:

   cleaning, cleansing, cleanup

   the act of making something clean