diffuse

/di-ˈfyüs/

Middle English, "dispersed, verbose (of speech or writing)," borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French diffus, borrowed from Latin diffūsus "spread over a wide area, (of writing) extensive, verbose," from past participle of diffundere "to pour out over a wide surface, spread, extend, squander"

adjective

  1. being at once verbose and ill-organized

  2. not concentrated or localized

a diffuse report from the scene of the earthquake

wordy verbose prolix diffuse mean using more words than necessary to express thought. wordy may also imply loquaciousness or garrulity. verbose suggests a resulting dullness, obscurity, or lack of incisiveness or precision.

verb

  1. to pour out and permit or cause to spread freely

  2. extend, scatter

  3. to spread thinly or wastefully

a drop of blue dye diffused in a glass of water

diffusing their ideas throughout the continent

adjective

  1. having vessels more or less evenly distributed throughout an annual ring and not varying greatly in size