MEANING
Having important effects that extend to many people, areas, or aspects of a situation.
Use it for
describing consequences beyond an immediate setting; evaluating a reform’s broad influence; distinguishing wide effects from a narrowly targeted changeDescribes the extent of consequences, not simply the breadth of topics discussed. Academic functions: Significance / Scope.
Words that belong together
- far-reaching implications
- far-reaching consequences
- a far-reaching reform
On the page
The judgment may have far-reaching implications for how public bodies retain records.
The reform’s far-reaching effects extended beyond the sector it was designed to regulate.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- far-reaching
Usage notes
Usually before a noun but also predicative. More far-reaching and most far-reaching are natural; hyphen retained in the canonical headword. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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