expanses

NOUN

large space, usually open

Synonyms

STRONGEST

plain stretch tract wilderness

STRONG

amplitude area belt breadth compass distance domain extension extent field immensity latitude length margin orbit radius range reach region remoteness room scope span sphere spread sweep territory width

WEAK

uninterrupted space

Antonyms

STRONG

extreme height limitation

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Once master of vast expanses of northern, central and western Africa, France has played a crucial role in the continent's post‑colonial history, repeatedly intervening militarily since the early 1960s.

From Barron's • May 10, 2026

See Vija Celmins’s expanses of wave-capped oceans, which remain as delicate and ephemeral in drypoint as they are in oil.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

But its endless expanses have been swept by panic since an outbreak of highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease, which was declared a national disaster in February.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

“Russia has so many vast resources, vast expanses of land,” Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal, describing at length his hopes that Russia, Ukraine and America would all become business partners.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025

Or consider the grassy balds—treeless, meadowy expanses of mountaintop, up to 250 acres in extent, which are quite unique to the southern Appalachians.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson