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synonyms
PREVAILING,
PREVALENT,
RIFE,
CURRENT can apply to what is in general or wide circulation or use or what exists generally, especially in a given place or time.
PREVAILING applies
to what is
predominant or widespread beyond others of its kind or class
at a time or place indicated, implicit, or assumed to be the present
<the
prevailing point of view among farmers> <the
prevailing tendency to obliterate the dividing lines between all the arts -- J.L.Lowes> <the predominant English taste, the
prevailing English
authority, of his time -- H.L.Mencken> <anyone acquainted with
the literature of the first decade after the war must have noticed a
prevailing tone of disgust -- C.D.Lewis>
PREVALENT applies to what is
general or common over a given area at a given time,
stressing less than PREVAILING an implicit comparison with other things of the same kind or class <confined by the classical tradition still
prevalent in their time -- Huntington Hartford> <a
prevalent feature in these compositions was a nursed and petted melancholy -- Mark Twain> <this custom is similar to customs
prevalent in different parts of Europe -- K.D.Upadhyaya> <the disease is most
prevalent in countries where there are large populations of both sheep and dogs -- L.K.Whitten>
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