Meaning & use
diffuse
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To spread out and mix through a space, liquid or crowd, becoming less concentrated.
Grammar: No object when the substance spreads itself: the scent diffused. With an object when something is spread: diffuse the light.
Patterns
- diffuse through something
- diffuse something
The perfume slowly diffused through the room.
Oxygen diffuses across the walls of tiny air sacs in the lungs.
A soft screen diffused the harsh sunlight.
verbtransitive or intransitiveformal
To spread information, ideas or influence over a wide group.
Grammar: Formal; often used with knowledge, technology or culture.
Patterns
- diffuse something among someone
New farming methods diffused across the region within a decade.
The agency aims to diffuse the technology to small businesses.
Ideas diffuse faster when people travel.
adjectivecomparable
Spread over a wide area rather than gathered in one place, or lacking a clear focus. Pronounced /dɪˈfjuːs/.
Grammar: The adjective ends in a soft s sound, unlike the verb.
The room was lit by diffuse light from a frosted window.
Her argument was long and diffuse, and hard to follow.
The pain in his back was diffuse rather than sharp.
Word forms
| third person singular | diffuses |
|---|---|
| past tense | diffused |
| past participle | diffused |
| -ing form | diffusing |
Common combinations
- diffuse light
- Photographers prefer diffuse light for portraits.
- diffuse through
- The gas diffused through the thin membrane.
- diffuse across
- Cultural trends diffuse across borders.
- diffuse the tension
- A joke helped diffuse the tension.
- diffuse pain
- The patient reported diffuse pain in the abdomen.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disperse
- Disperse suggests scattering in many directions, whereas diffuse suggests gradually thinning out and mixing.
- spread
- Spread is the common word for any widening, while diffuse is more scientific.
- scatter
- Scatter implies throwing things apart, often suddenly.
- permeate
- Permeate means to pass through and fill, where diffuse focuses on the thinning of concentration.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: diffuse or defuse? diffuse or disperse?
diffuse vs defuse
Defuse means to remove the fuse from a bomb or reduce a dangerous situation. The spelling with diff- means to spread. Defuse the tension is the standard usage, though diffuse is sometimes seen in error.
diffuse vs disperse
Disperse is closer to scatter, as in a crowd dispersing.
Practice
The teacher managed to ____ the argument by suggesting a short break.
Choose one answer.
Defuse means to make a tense situation less dangerous. Diffuse means to spread out, which is the tempting but wrong option here, and refuse and confuse do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “diffuse”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.