rife

adj

1. Widespread, common, prevalent, current (mainly of unpleasant or harmful things).

   “Smallpox was rife after the siege had been lifted.”

   “Rumors were rife that the factory was about to shut down.”

   “Before the plague of London, inflammations of the lungs were rife and mortal.”

   “The tumult of loud mirth was rife.”

   “She was afterwards Lady Keith; and the mention of this name in the tale, as it were by mere accident, fixes the era of it in the reign of James the Fourth, at the very time that fairies, brownies, and witches, were at the rifest in Scotland.”

2. Abounding; present in large numbers, plentiful.

   “Red deer are rife in these woodlands.”

   “Seeds are rife in a watermelon.”

3. Full of (mostly unpleasant or harmful things).

   “Many post-colonial governments were rife with lawlessness and corruption.”

   “They will have to reflect on a seventh successive defeat in a European final while Chelsea try to make sense of an eccentric season rife with controversy and bad feeling but once again one finishing on an exhilarating high.”

4. (obsolete)Having power; active; nimble.

   “What! I am rife a little yet.”

adv

1. Plentifully, abundantly.

   “The snowdrops grow rife on the slopes of Mount Pembroke.”