sprawling

Meanings

1. 1adjectivebefore a noun

   Covering a large area in a loose, untidy or unplanned way.

   Grammar: Usually comes before the noun: a sprawling suburb, not 'the suburb is sprawling' in most contexts.

   Patterns

   • a sprawling city
   • a sprawling estate

   We drove for an hour through the sprawling suburbs before reaching open fields.

   The family lived in a sprawling farmhouse with rooms added over many decades.

   A sprawling market filled every street around the old station.

2. 2adjectivebefore a nounfigurative

   Long and loosely organized, with so many parts or characters that it feels hard to follow.

   Grammar: Used of stories, plans or organizations, often with mild criticism.

   Patterns

   • a sprawling novel
   • a sprawling company

   Her sprawling novel follows four generations and over sixty characters.

   The sprawling bureaucracy made it impossible to find the right office.

   Critics called the film sprawling and in need of a firm edit.

3. 3adjectivebefore a noun

   Sitting or lying with the arms and legs stretched out clumsily or carelessly.

   Grammar: Describes a posture: a sprawling figure on the sofa.

   Patterns

   • a sprawling figure

   A sprawling teenager filled the whole back seat.

   The cat lay sprawling in the sun with its paws in the air.

   Sprawling bodies covered the grass after the school sports day.

Common combinations

sprawling city

Los Angeles is often described as a sprawling city.

sprawling suburbs

The sprawling suburbs depend heavily on cars.

sprawling estate

They sold their sprawling estate and moved to a flat.

sprawling empire

The sprawling empire was hard to govern from one capital.

sprawling epic

It is a sprawling epic with scenes on three continents.

Synonyms and how they differ

rambling

It stresses an irregular, wandering layout or speech, and is often gentler than 'sprawling'.

expansive

It is neutral or positive about large size, while 'sprawling' often hints at untidiness.

straggling

It describes thin, scattered spread, such as a village along a road, rather than a large mass.

extensive

It simply means large in area or scope, with no sense of disorder.

Opposites

Word family

sprawl verb

to spread out untidily or sit with limbs spread

sprawl noun

uncontrolled spread of a built-up area

urban sprawl noun

cities growing outward into the countryside

Commonly confused: sprawling or spreading?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “sprawling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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