- to spread or cause to spread in all directions
- to undergo or cause to undergo diffusion
- to scatter or cause to scatter; disseminate; disperse
- spread out over a wide area
- lacking conciseness
- characterized by or exhibiting diffusion
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
dif•fuse /v. dɪˈfyuz; adj. -ˈfyus/USA pronunciation
v., -fused, -fusing, adj.
v.
adj.
dif•fuse•ness, n. [uncountable]
dif•fu•sion /dɪˈfyuʒən/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]diffusion of gases into the atmosphere.
dif•fu•sive /dɪˈfyusɪv/USA pronunciation adj. See -fus-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026v.
- to (cause to) spread or scatter widely: [no object]The light diffused into the room.[~ + object]Diffuse the light in your room to avoid glare.
- Physics to spread out freely without restriction;
disseminate:[~ + object]The printing press helped diffuse knowledge.
adj.
- widely spread or scattered;
dispersed:The room was bathed in soft, diffuse light. - characterized by wordiness in speech or writing;
disjointed:I got lost in your rather diffuse essay.
dif•fuse•ness, n. [uncountable]
dif•fu•sion /dɪˈfyuʒən/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]diffusion of gases into the atmosphere.
dif•fu•sive /dɪˈfyusɪv/USA pronunciation adj. See -fus-.
dif•fuse
(v. di fyo̅o̅z′;adj. di fyo̅o̅s′),USA pronunciation v., -fused, -fusing, adj.
v.t.
v.i.
adj.
dif•fuse•ly
(di fyo̅o̅s′lē),USA pronunciation adv.
dif•fuse′ness, n.
v.t.
- to pour out and spread, as a fluid.
- to spread or scatter widely or thinly;
disseminate. - Physicsto spread by diffusion.
v.i.
- to spread.
- Physicsto intermingle by diffusion.
adj.
- characterized by great length or discursiveness in speech or writing;
wordy. - widely spread or scattered;
dispersed. - Botanywidely or loosely spreading.
- Optics(of reflected light) scattered, as from a rough surface (opposed to specular).
- Latin diffūsus spread, poured forth. See dif-, fuse2
- Anglo-French)
- Middle English (1350–1400
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
diffuse vb /dɪˈfjuːz/
'diffuse' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
defuse
- diffuser
- disperse
- disseminate
- effuse
- flat
- garrulous
- interfuse
- Milky Way
- nebula
- penetrate
- rambling
- scatter
- scleroderma
- vein
- acoustic feature
- Burkitt's lymphoma
- calvus
- circumfuse
- compact
- crystalloid
- diffuse nebula
- diffuse-porous
- diffusible
- diffusion
- diffusive
- emission nebula
- extravasate
- fatbody
- gate
- glow discharge
- ground glass
- heat lightning
- immune system
- Kulturkreis
- nerve net
- nondiffuse
- overspread
- overwrite
- perfuse
- pervade
- rediffuse
- ring-porous
- transfuse
- wordy
- skylight
- specular
- spread
- suffuse