epidemic
Syllables: ep·i·dem·ic/ˌɛpɪˈdɛmɪk/
epidemic noun: a widespread disease that affects many humans in a population.
Noun
epidemic (plural epidemics)
- A widespread disease that affects many humans in a population.
- At that time, the city [Christiania, now Oslo] was in the grip of a cholera epidemic, and victims were dying at the rate of 60 a day. Bradshaw contracted the disease, and died on September 6 [1853].1950 January, “Notes and News: George Bradshaw's Grave”, in Railway Magazine, pages 61–62
- An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a human population at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period; an episode of outbreak and subsequent high prevalence.
- A heightened occurrence of anything harmful.
- Even before the pandemic, the United States surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, said the country was experiencing an “epidemic of loneliness,” driven by the accelerated pace of life and the spread of technology into all of our social interactions.2022 April 20, John Leland, quoting Vivek Murthy, “How Loneliness Is Damaging Our Health”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- People are holding coordinated protests across UK towns and cities this weekend against what they call a “climate of fear” on the roads, and an “epidemic” of careless and dangerous driving that is curbing children’s freedoms and putting lives at risk.2023 September 29, Laura Laker, “UK protests planned amid ‘epidemic’ of dangerous driving”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- The spreading of an idea or belief amongst a population.
- Lord Avonleigh was at once liberated from his imprisonment, well prepared to be considered, and to consider himself, a martyr to the cause of loyalty; and as the services of the rich nobleman,...his claims to notice and favour were most graciously acknowledged. Accordingly, he returned to his seat...1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 98–99
Adjective
epidemic (comparative more epidemic, superlative most epidemic)
- Of, related to, or being an epidemic: a widespread outbreak of disease in humans.
- The tetany that was epidemic among slaved children was actually the result of severe calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D deficiency caused by chronic malnutrition.2008, Harriet A. Washington, “Profitable Wonders”, in Medical Apartheid, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, page 62
- Like an epidemic: widespread in a bad way.
- Epidemic hysteria occurred upon the incumbent’s reelection.
- [In] May, there was, at London and in its neighbourhood, a disease very epidemic, though not fatal, which had some time before been very prevalent both in Italy and Germany.1852, Annals of influenza or epidemic catarrhal fever in Great Britain, page 76
- Synonyms:
- common, ubiquitous, disseminated, far-flung, extensive, pervasive, predominant, prevailing, prevalent, regnant
epidemic meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
epidemic in Hindi
- widespread disease
- महामारी mahāmārī, वबा vabā
epidemic in Tamil
- குறுந்தொற்று, உறுபிணி, ஒரு நாடு
epidemic in Marathi
- साथीचा रोग
epidemic in Urdu
- widespread disease
- وَبا vabā
More languagesFewer languages
- epidemic in Bengali
- মহামারী mohamari
- epidemic in Malayalam
- മഹാമാരി mahāmāri
- epidemic in Kannada
- ಸೋಂಕುಜಾಡ್ಯ, ಅಂಟುರೋಗ, ಸಾಂಕ್ರಾಮಿಕ ರೋಗ, ಒಬ್ಬರಿಂದೊಬ್ಬರಿಗೆ ಹರಡುವ ರೋಗ
- epidemic in Punjabi
- ਵਬਾਅ vabāa
- epidemic in Gujarati
- મહામારી mahāmārī, રોગચાળો rogcāḷo
- epidemic in Odia
- ଏପିଡେମିକ୍ epiḍemik
- epidemic in Pashto
- وبا vabā
- epidemic in Tagalog
- salot, epidemya
- epidemic in Arabic
- وَبَاء wabāʔ, أَوْبِئَة ʔawbiʔa
- epidemic in Malay
- wabak, epidemi
- epidemic in Indonesian
- wabah, epidemi
- epidemic in Thai
- โรคระบาด rôok-rá-bàat
- epidemic in Vietnamese
- dịch, bệnh dịch
- epidemic in Myanmar
- ကပ်နာ kapna
- Kashmiri
- وَبا vabā
Examples of epidemic in a sentence
- Accordingly, he returned to his seat in a little fever of royal devotedness—it was the fashionable epidemic; and who coming from Whitehall could be without it?1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn)...
- The major reason for such an examination was to determine if any patterns uncovered seemed to be more epidemic than endemic.1986, Gerald F. Pyle, The Diffusion of Influenza: Patterns and Paradigms, →ISBN, page 123:
- This proportion increased about 5% from 1988 to 1992—hardly a change of epidemic proportions.2003, James C. Howell, Preventing & Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Comprehensive Framework, SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 19:
Synonyms of epidemic
- common
- ubiquitous
- disseminated
- far-flung
- extensive
- pervasive
- predominant
- prevailing
- prevalent
- regnant
5 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of epidemic
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | epidemics |
| alternative form | epidemick |
| alternative form | epidemical |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more epidemic |
| superlative | most epidemic |
Origin of epidemic
From French épidémique, from épidémie, from Medieval Latin epidēmia, reanalysis of plural Late Latin epidēmia, from Ancient Greek ἐπιδήμιος (epidḗmios), from ἐπί (epí, “upon”) + δῆμος (dêmos, “people”). By surface analysis, epi- (“on”) + demic (“of the people”).
Words formed from epidemic
- epidemic nephropathy
- epidemic polyarthritis
- epidemic roseola
- epidemic threshold
- antiepidemic
- epicurve
- epidemic curve
- epidemiclike
- iatroepidemic
- infodemic
- interepidemic
- microepidemic
- midepidemic
- panepidemic
- post-epidemic
- postepidemic
- pre-epidemic
- preepidemic
- pseudoepidemic
- subepidemic
- syndemic
- virgin soil epidemic
- hyperepidemic
- ecoepidemic
- endemoepidemic
- epidemically
- epidemicity
- nonepidemic
Phrases with epidemic
Words that rhyme with epidemic
- academic
- chemic
- demic
- endemic
- polemic
- infodemic
- pandemic
- philodemic
- philopolemic
- plandemic
- postpandemic
- systemic
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- alchemic
- allelochemic
- anthemic
- anti-epidemic
- antiacademic
- antiepidemic
- chemick
- chernozemic
- chronosystemic
- diasystemic
- ecoepidemic
- electrochemic
- endemoepidemic
- eudemic
- geochemic
- haremic
- holoendemic
- hyperendemic
- hyperepidemic
- hypoendemic
- interacademic
- interepidemic
- interpandemic
- intraepidemic
- intrapandemic
- mesoendemic
- microendemic
- microepidemic
- monosystemic
- multisystemic
- myxedemic
- near-endemic
- non-academic
- nonacademic
- nonendemic
- nonepidemic
- nonpandemic
- nonsystemic
- palaeoendemic
- paleoendemic
- panepidemic
- photochemic
- pingdemic
- polemick
- polydemic
- polysystemic
- portasystemic
- portosystemic
Questions about epidemic
- What does epidemic mean?
- Epidemic means a widespread disease that affects many humans in a population.
- What is epidemic in Hindi?
- Epidemic in Hindi is महामारी (mahāmārī), वबा (vabā). See Epidemic meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use epidemic in a sentence?
- Accordingly, he returned to his seat in a little fever of royal devotedness—it was the fashionable epidemic; and who coming from Whitehall could be without it?
- What part of speech is epidemic?
- Epidemic can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce epidemic?
- Epidemic is pronounced /ˌɛpɪˈdɛmɪk/.
- What is the plural of epidemic?
- The plural of epidemic is epidemics.
Words near epidemic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: epidemic (page history and authors); epidemic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); epidemic (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); epidemic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); મહામારી (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଏପିଡେମିକ୍ (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-epidemic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “epidemic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/epidemic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.