Words / C1

pr-uh-lif-uh-RAYSHUN/prəˌlɪfəˈreɪʃn/

Proliferation is a rapid increase in number, often with a hint that it may be hard to control: the proliferation of fake news. Increase is everyday and calmer; spread can be geographic. Nuclear proliferation is a set political collocation. Proliferate is the verb. Use it when things multiply quickly, not for a slow rise in prices.

Meaning

A rapid increase in the number or amount of something.

Examples

• “The proliferation of fake news worries teachers.”
• “The proliferation of small rules made the handbook unreadable.”
• “Start-ups proliferated, then most vanished within a year.”

Good to know

the proliferation of + noun. Rapid, sometimes unwelcome increase. Verb: proliferate. Everyday: rapid spread.

Near in meaning

spread

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