Widely means over a large area or among many people. When a new song becomes widely popular, people all across the country are listening to it in cities, suburbs, and small towns. When a scientist's discovery is widely accepted, researchers everywhere agree it's correct.

The word suggests broad reach or extensive coverage. A rumor might spread widely through a school by lunchtime. A book that's widely read has found its way into homes, libraries, and classrooms. During colonial times, Benjamin Franklin was widely known throughout the thirteen colonies for his experiments with electricity and his clever sayings in Poor Richard's Almanack.

Notice that widely describes distribution across space or among people, whether common or rare. Two trees planted widely apart have significant distance between them. A net cast widely covers more ocean. When opinions vary widely, people hold many different views across a broad spectrum.

The word often appears with other words to show extent: widely available (easy to find in many places), widely believed (accepted by many people), or widely scattered (spread far apart).