Pervasive means spreading through every part of something. A pervasive smell, pervasive influence, pervasive inequality.
It claims completeness rather than mere frequency: something pervasive is in everything, not in many things, which is why it is such a strong word in social criticism. It is nearly always used of things you would rather not have. Note that the Latin means to go through, from vadere, to walk.
1adjectivepervasiveSpreading through every part of something.
“The pervasive smell of smoke stayed in the house for weeks after the fire.”
synonyms: ubiquitous, widespread
pervasive is a quality of spreading through.
Latin pervadere is per plus vadere, to go. Invade and evade come from the same going.
Proto-Indo-European
*weh₂dʰ-
Latin
pervāsus
English, today
pervasive
Built from
From Latin pervāsus, from pervādō (“spread through, pervade”), from per (“through”) + vādō (“go, walk”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA