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Broad vs Specific - What's the difference?

broad | specific | Antonyms |

Specific is a antonym of broad.



As adjectives the difference between broad and specific

is that broad is wide in extent or scope while specific is explicit or definite.

As nouns the difference between broad and specific

is that broad is a prostitute, a woman of loose morals while specific is a distinguishing attribute or quality.

broad

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Wide in extent or scope.
  • three feet broad
    the broad expanse of ocean
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
  • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage=Julia Farrington, head of arts at Index on Censorship, argues that extra powers to ban violent videos online will "end up too broad and open to misapplication, which would damage freedom of expression".}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […]  But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.}}
  • Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full.
  • * Bishop Porteus
  • broad and open day
  • Having a large measure of any thing or quality; not limited; not restrained.
  • * John Locke
  • a broad mixture of falsehood
  • Comprehensive; liberal; enlarged.
  • * D. Daggett
  • The words in the Constitution are broad enough to include the case.
  • * E. Everett
  • in a broad , statesmanlike, and masterly way
  • Plain; evident.
  • a broad hint
  • Free; unrestrained; unconfined.
  • * Shakespeare
  • as broad and general as the casing air
  • (dated) Gross; coarse; indelicate.
  • a broad''' compliment; a '''broad''' joke; '''broad humour
  • (of an accent) Strongly regional.
  • (Gaelic languages) Velarized, i.e. not palatalized.
  • Antonyms

    * * (Regarding body width) * (Not palatalized)

    Derived terms

    * breadth * broaden * broad across the beam * broad in the beam * broadscale * broad strokes * broadsword * broad church * broadcloth * broad agreement

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) A prostitute, a woman of loose morals.
  • (US) A woman or girl.
  • Who was that broad I saw you with?
  • (UK) A shallow lake, one of a number of bodies of water in eastern Norfolk and Suffolk.
  • A lathe tool for turning down the insides and bottoms of cylinders.
  • (Knight)

    Synonyms

    * See also * See also * See also

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    * * * ----

    specific

    English

    Alternative forms

    * specifick (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • explicit or definite
  • (sciences) Pertaining to a species.
  • *2008 , (Richard Dawkins), The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing , Oxford 2009, p. 3:
  • *:Science and literature, then, are the two achievements of Homo sapiens that most convincingly justify the specific name.
  • (taxonomy) pertaining to a taxon at the rank of species
  • special, distinctive or unique
  • intended for, or applying to a particular thing
  • being a remedy for a particular disease
  • Quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
  • * Coleridge
  • In fact, all medicines will be found specific in the perfection of the science.
  • (immunology) limited to a particular antibody or antigen
  • (physics) of a value divided by mass (e.g. specific orbital energy)
  • (physics) similarly referring to a value divided by any measure which acts to standardize it (e.g. thrust specific fuel consumption, referring to fuel consumption divided by thrust)
  • (physics) a measure compared with a standard reference value by division, to produce a ratio without unit or dimension (e.g. specific refractive index is a pure number, and is relative to that of air)
  • Antonyms

    * all-purpose * broad * general * general-purpose * generic * gross * nonspecific * overall * pandemic * universal * unspecific * widespread

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    See also

    * generic

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A distinguishing attribute or quality.
  • Something particularly adapted for a particular use, as a remedy for a particular disorder
  • Specification
  • (in the plural) The details; particulars.
  • Derived terms

    *