broad

Less common meanings

5. 5
   over the topadjective

   Of humor, writing, or acting, obvious and unsubtle, sometimes to the point of coarseness.

   The sitcom favors broad physical comedy over sharp dialogue.

   Critics found the film's villains broad to the point of caricature.

   UsageUsed in broad comedy and broad acting; it can describe a style or criticize a lack of subtlety.

   Similarunsubtle, obvious, exaggerated

   Oppositesubtle, understated

   Note

   Writers and critics use it as a verdict, and it is rarely a compliment. Broad comedy, broad acting and a broad line all land their effect by underlining it. In Westworld (2018), Lee says he wrote a line Maeve has just delivered, and she answers, "A bit broad, if you ask me." In older use it could also mean coarse or indelicate, where the fault is taste rather than subtlety. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • The cited Westworld scene dates from 2018. en.wikipedia.org
   • Maeve delivers a threat to Lee; he then says he wrote that line for her. en.wikiquote.org
   • Maeve replies, “A bit broad, if you ask me.” en.wiktionary.org
   • An older meaning of broad is coarse or indelicate. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   strong accentadjective

   Strongly regional in character, especially of an accent or way of speaking.

   The innkeeper greeted them in a broad Yorkshire accent.

   His vowels turned broader whenever he visited his cousins in Maine.

   UsageMostly with accent: a broad Scottish accent, a broad Texas accent.

   Similarstrong, heavy, thick, pronounced

   Oppositeslight

7. 7
   womannounoffensivedatedUScountable

   A woman or girl; a dated American slang term now widely considered disrespectful.

   'Some broad in a red coat came in asking for you,' the bartender said.

   The grunts resumed their bitching at the heat, the hills, and the lack of cold beer and hot broads.

   1984, Charles Robert Anderson, The Grunts

   UsageOutside period dialogue, say woman instead.

   Similarchick, babe, gal, lady, bird

   Note

   It shares its uncertain American origin with the "prostitute" sense, and early underworld slang used it for both. It thrived in tough-guy talk. Harry Brock grumbles in Born Yesterday (1950) that "them broads" always hook you, and Bernie still uses it in About Last Night (1986). Its tone ranged from breezy familiarity to contempt. Today most listeners hear it as dismissive, so keep it to period dialogue. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • The woman and prostitute senses share an uncertain American origin. wordorigins.org
   • The term was associated with tough-guy speech. upload.wikimedia.org
   • Born Yesterday is a 1950 film. en.wikipedia.org
   • Harry Brock says that women, described as “them broads,” always hook you in Born Yesterday. en.wiktionary.org
   • Bernie uses the term in About Last Night. en.wiktionary.org
   • About Last Night was released in 1986. en.wikipedia.org
8. 8
   obviousadjective

   Plain and evident; clear enough to be noticed or understood at once.

   The chairman dropped a broad hint that layoffs were coming.

   He gave a broad wink to show the threat was only a joke.

   UsageMostly in a broad hint or a broad wink.

   Similarclear, obvious, plain, unmistakable, strong

   Oppositesubtle

9. 9
   adjective

   Free and unrestrained; not confined, checked, or held within limits.

   as broad and general as the casing air

   c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”

   Note

   Shakespeare gives this sense its memorable line. In Macbeth (c. 1606), a state beyond all confinement is pictured as "broad and general as the casing air," unbounded like the air that surrounds everything. The pairing with general matters. Broad here means not merely wide but held in nowhere. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. en.wikipedia.org
   • Macbeth contains the exact quoted words, spoken by Macbeth. shakespeare.mit.edu
   • The passage contrasts imagined freedom with confinement. shakespeare.mit.edu
   • Broad in this quotation means free or unconfined. gutenberg.org
10. 10
    prostitutenoundatedcountable

    A prostitute, or a woman regarded as having loose morals; a dated, derogatory use.

    In the old pulp novel, a cop tells the broads working the corner outside the bar to move along.

    “Now we go up Bowery Street look at broads. Me pay.”

    1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer

    Similarhooker, escort, floozie, hustler, chippy

    Note

    This is the harsher of the two American slang uses, and its origin is uncertain. It may come from broad hips, or from abroadwife, a woman living or traveling without her husband, often a slave. Bride and German Braut may also have influenced it. John Dos Passos's Manhattan Transfer (1925) places it on the Bowery. It is dated and derogatory, so quote it rather than use it. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The slang sense has an uncertain origin, possibly involving broad hips. en.m.wiktionary.org
    • Another proposed origin is abroadwife, meaning a woman living or traveling without her husband, often enslaved. en.m.wiktionary.org
    • Bride and German Braut are proposed influences. en.m.wiktionary.org
    • John Dos Passos wrote Manhattan Transfer, first published in 1925. en.wikipedia.org
    • The novel uses broads in dialogue referring to the Bowery. gutenberg.org
11. 11
    playing cardnounarchaic

    A playing card; an archaic slang use associated with gamblers and cardsharps.

    Note

    Gamblers once called a card a broad and a deck a pack of broads. In Arthur Morris Binstead's Houndsditch Day by Day, old Sol "couldn't ha' lived without a pack of broads" and would play alone if no one joined him. The same cant survives in broadsman, a card sharp. Do not confuse it with the slang word for a woman, which has a separate American origin. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Gamblers used broad for a playing card. gutenberg.org
    • A deck was called a pack of broads. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation describes old Sol as unable to live without cards and willing to play alone. en.wiktionary.org
    • Broadsman means a card sharp and derives from broad meaning a playing card. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    nounUK

    Any of a group of shallow lakes in the eastern parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, England.
13. 13
    noun

    A type of floodlight used in film and television production to light a wide area.
14. 14
    noun

    A tool used on a lathe to cut and finish the interior walls and base of a cylinder.
15. 15
    nounUK

    A 20-shilling gold coin issued by the Commonwealth of England in 1656.
16. 16
    adjective

    Of a consonant in the Gaelic languages: not palatalized, and often pronounced with the back of the tongue raised toward the soft palate.