Worldwide means happening in, affecting, or extending across the entire world. When a song becomes a worldwide hit, people in Japan, Brazil, Egypt, and everywhere else are listening to it. When scientists announce a worldwide problem like air pollution, they mean it affects every continent and country.

The word emphasizes the global scale of something. A business might start in one city, then expand regionally, nationally, and eventually worldwide, opening stores on every continent. When the Olympics happen, they attract worldwide attention, with billions of people across different time zones tuning in to watch.

You'll also see it written as two separate words: world wide. Both versions mean the same thing, though worldwide as one word is more common today.

The internet made worldwide communication instant and easy. Before, sending a letter to another country took weeks. Now you can video chat with someone on the other side of the planet in seconds. This worldwide connection means ideas, news, and trends spread faster than ever before. When something goes viral worldwide, millions of people across dozens of countries see it within hours.