Word Study
sweeping (root: sweep)
CIDE DICTIONARY
sweeping, a.
Cleaning off surfaces, or cleaning away dust, dirt, or litter, as a broom does; moving with swiftness and force; carrying everything before it; including in its scope many persons or things; as, a sweeping flood; a sweeping majority; a sweeping accusation. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
sweeping, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 wide in range or effect (sweeping changes).
2 taking no account of particular cases or exceptions (a sweeping statement).
--n. (in pl.) dirt etc. collected by sweeping.
--adj.
1 wide in range or effect (sweeping changes).
2 taking no account of particular cases or exceptions (a sweeping statement).
--n. (in pl.) dirt etc. collected by sweeping.
Derivative
sweepingly adv. sweepingness n.
THESAURUS
sweeping
absolute, across the board, across-the-board, aleatoric, aleatory, all-comprehensive, all-embracing, all-encompassing, all-inclusive, all-out, all-pervading, amorphous, blanket, blobby, blurred, blurry, born, broad, broad-based, cataclysmic, catastrophic, catholic, chance, chancy, chaotic, clean, clear, coasting, compendious, complete, comprehensive, confused, congenital, consummate, debris, decisive, deep-dyed, diffuse, disordered, downright, dust, dyed-in-the-wool, egregious, encyclopedic, exhaustive, extensive, far-embracing, far-extending, far-flung, far-flying, far-going, far-ranging, far-reaching, flow, flowing, foggy, fuzzy, garbage, general, glide, gliding, global, hazy, hit-or-miss, ill-defined, imprecise, inaccurate, inchoate, incoherent, indecisive, indefinable, indefinite, indeterminable, indeterminate, indiscriminate, indistinct, inexact, insurrectionary, intensive, junk, large-scale, lax, liberal, litter, loose, nonspecific, obscure, omnibus, omnipresent, orderless, out-and-out, outright, over-all, overwhelming, panoramic, perfect, pervasive, plain, plumb, pure, radical, random, regular, revolutional, revolutionary, revulsionary, revulsive, rubbish, sailing, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, sheer, skating, skiing, skim, sledding, slide, sliding, slipping, slither, slithering, stochastic, straight, sweep, synoptic, thorough, thoroughgoing, through-and-through, tobogganing, total, transilient, trash, ubiquitous, umbrella, unclear, unconditional, undefined, undestined, undetermined, universal, unmitigated, unplain, unqualified, unreserved, unrestricted, unspecified, utter, vague, veiled, veritable, waste, whole, wholesale, wide, wide-extended, wide-extending, wide-ranging, wide-reaching, wide-stretching, widespread, without exception, without omissionROGET THESAURUS
sweeping
Whole
N whole, totality, integrity, totalness, entirety, ensemble, collectiveness, unity, completeness, indivisibility, indiscerptibility, integration, embodiment, integer, all, the whole, total, aggregate, one and all, gross amount, sum, sum total, tout ensemble, length and breadth of, Alpha and Omega, be all and end all, complex, complexus, lock stock and barrel, bulk, mass, lump, tissue, staple, body, compages, trunk, torso, bole, hull, hulk, skeleton greater part, major part, best part, principal part, main part, essential part, lion's share, Benjamin's mess, the long and the short, nearly, all, almost all, whole, total, integral, entire, complete, one, individual, unbroken, intact, uncut, undivided, unsevered, unclipped, uncropped, unshorn, seamless, undiminished, undemolished, undissolved, undestroyed, unbruised, indivisible, indissoluble, indissolvable, indiscerptible, wholesale, sweeping, comprehensive, wholly, altogether, totally, entirely, all, all in all, as a whole, wholesale, in a body, collectively, all put together, in the aggregate, in the lump, in the mass, in the gross, in the main, in the long run, en masse, as a body, on the whole, bodily, en bloc, in extenso, throughout, every inch, substantially, tout bien ou rien.Completeness
N completeness, completion, integration, allness, entirety, perfection, solidity, solidarity, unity, all, ne plus ultra, ideal, limit, complement, supplement, make-weight, filling, up, impletion, saturation, saturity, high water, high tide, flood tide, spring tide, fill, load, bumper, bellyful, brimmer, sufficiency, complete, entire, whole, perfect, full, good, absolute, thorough, plenary, solid, undivided, with all its parts, all- sided, exhaustive, radical, sweeping, thorough-going, dead, regular, consummate, unmitigated, sheer, unqualified, unconditional, free, abundant, brimming, brimful, topful, topfull, chock full, choke full, as full as an egg is of meat, as full as a vetch, saturated, crammed, replete, fraught, laden, full-laden, full-fraught, full-charged, heavy laden, completing, supplemental, supplementary, ascititious, completely, altogether, outright, wholly, totally, in toto, quite, all out, over head and ears, effectually, for good and all, nicely, fully, through thick and thin, head and shoulders, neck and heel, neck and crop, in all respects, in every respect, at all points, out and out, to all intents and purposes, toto coelo, utterly, clean, clean as a whistle, to the full, to the utmost, to the backbone, hollow, stark, heart and soul, root and branch, down to the ground, to the top of one's bent, as far as possible, a outrance, throughout, from first to last, from beginning to end, from end to end, from one end to the other, from Dan to Beersheba, from head to foot, from top to toe, from top to bottom, de fond en comble, a fond, a capite ad calcem, ab ovo usque ad mala, fore and aft, every, whit, every inch, cap-a-pie, to the end of the chapter, up to the brim, up to the ears, up to the eyes, as a as can be, on all accounts, sous tous les rapports, with a vengeance, with a witness, falsus in uno falsus in omnibus, false in one thing, false in everything, omnem movere lapidem, una scopa nuova spazza bene.Generality
N generality, generalization, universality, catholicity, catholicism, miscellany, miscellaneousness, dragnet, common run, worldwideness, everyone, everybody, all hands, all the world and his wife, anybody, N or M, all sorts, prevalence, run, general, generic, collective, broad, comprehensive, sweeping, encyclopedical, widespread, universal, catholic, catholical, common, worldwide, ecumenical, oecumenical, transcendental, prevalent, prevailing, rife, epidemic, besetting, all over, covered with, Pan-American, Anglican, Pan-Hellenic, Pan-Germanic, slavic, panharmonic, every, all, unspecified, impersonal, customary, whatever, whatsoever, to a man, one and all, generally, always, for better for worse, in general, generally speaking, speaking generally, for the most part, in the long run.For further exploring for "sweeping" in Webster Dictionary Online