ubiquitous

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 28, 2023 is: ubiquitous \yoo-BIK-wuh-tuss\ adjective

Ubiquitous is a synonym of [widespread](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/widespread) and describes things that are actually, or seemingly, seen or encountered everywhere.

// Though they were once a status symbol reserved only for those with considerable means, smartphones are now a ubiquitous technology.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ubiquitous)

Examples:

“Though she’s been a singer and performer for six decades, Cher had never made one of pop’s most ubiquitous (and commercially viable) releases: a Christmas album.” — Melena Ryzik, The New York Times, 17 Oct. 2023

Did you know?

To be sure, the title of the Academy Award-winning 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once (starring Academy Award-winning actress [Michelle Yeoh](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelle-Yeoh) as the reluctant hero [traversing](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traverse) the [multiverse](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multiverse)) is the better choice, but may we just say that Ubiquitous would have also made sense as a title? After all, ubiquitous describes the idea of the everything everywhere all at once in the blockbuster movie’s name and does it in one handy four-syllable word. Ubiquitous comes from the noun [ubiquity](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ubiquity), meaning “presence everywhere or in many places simultaneously,” and both words come ultimately from the Latin word ubique, meaning “everywhere.” Ubiquitous, which has often been used with a touch of exaggeration to describe those things that it seems like you can’t go a day without encountering, is the more popular of the two by a [parsec](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parsec). It may not quite be ubiquitous, but if you keep your eyes and ears open, you’re apt to encounter it quite a bit.