social distancing
UK/ˈsəʊʃəl ˌdɪstən(t)sɪŋ//ˈsoʊʃəl ˌdɪstən(t)sɪŋ/
social distancing noun: the practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases by isolating those with such diseases in quarantines, maintaining space between individuals, and prohibiting certain activities. Also the present participle and gerund of social distance.
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Noun
social distancing (uncountable)
- The practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases by isolating those with such diseases in quarantines, maintaining space between individuals, and prohibiting certain activities.
- The Governor of an affected State implements isolation and/or social-distancing requirements using State/local legal authorities.2004, United States Department of Homeland Security, “Biological Incident Annex”, in National Response Plan, page 7
- Nonpharmaceutical interventions outside of healthcare settings focus on measures to 1) limit international spread of the virus (e.g., travel screening and restrictions); 2) reduce spread within national and local populations (e.g., isolation and treatment of ill persons; monitoring and possible...2006, World Health Organization Writing Group, “Nonpharmaceutical Interventions for Pandemic Influenza, International Measures”, in Emerging Infectious Diseases, volume 12, number 1, →DOI, page 81
- Synonyms:
- physical distancing
Also used as
social distancing is also the present participle and gerund of social distance.
social distancing meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali
social distancing in Hindi
- practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
- शारीरिक दूरी śārīrik dūrī
social distancing in Tamil
- practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
- சமூக இடைவெளி camūka iṭaiveḷi
social distancing in Marathi
- practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
- शारीरिक अंतर śārīrik antar
social distancing in Bengali
- practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
- শারীরিক দূরত্ব śaririk durotto
More languagesFewer languages
- social distancing in Malayalam
- സാമൂഹിക അകലം sāmūhika akalaṁ
- social distancing in Punjabi
- ਸਰੀਰਕ ਦੂਰੀ sarīrak dūrī
- social distancing in Gujarati
- શારીરિક દૂરી śārīrik dūrī
- social distancing in Assamese
- শাৰীৰিক দূৰত্ব xaririk durotto
- social distancing in Malay
- penjarakan sosial, penjarakan fizikal
- social distancing in Indonesian
- jaga jarak sosial
- social distancing in Persian
- فاصلهگذاری اجتماعی fâsele-gozâri-ye ejtemâ'i
- social distancing in Thai
- การเว้นระยะห่างทางสังคม
- social distancing in Vietnamese
- sự cách ly xã hội, khoảng cách xã hội, sự giãn cách xã hội, sự cách ly vật lý
Examples of social distancing in a sentence
- Fineberg said, adding that if an epidemic struck in the next year, the quarantine-based strategy called social distancing “is likely to be all we’re going to have as a strategy.”2006 February 6, Donald McNeil Jr., “States and Cities Lag in Bird Flu Readiness”, in The New York Times:
- All I spot are lots of anglers on the canal at Wigan, indulging in a sport where social distancing is de rigueur!2020 November 4, Paul Bigland, “At no point have I felt unsafe...”, in Rail, page 47:
- A huge crowd—visibly not observing social distancing—turned up Friday at the birthday community pantry organized by actress Angel Locsin in Quezon City.2021, Neil Arwin Mercado, “Death, huge crowd shut down Angel Locsin’s birthday community pantry”, in Philippine Daily Inquirer:
Synonyms of social distancing
Forms of social distancing
| alternative form | social-distancing |
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Questions about social distancing
- What does social distancing mean?
- Social distancing means the practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases by isolating those with such diseases in quarantines, maintaining space between individuals, and prohibiting certain activities.
- What is social distancing in Hindi?
- Social distancing in Hindi is शारीरिक दूरी (śārīrik dūrī). See Social distancing meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use social distancing in a sentence?
- Fineberg said, adding that if an epidemic struck in the next year, the quarantine-based strategy called social distancing “is likely to be all we’re going to have as a strategy.”
- What part of speech is social distancing?
- Social distancing is a noun.
- How do you pronounce social distancing?
- Social distancing is pronounced /ˈsoʊʃəl ˌdɪstən(t)sɪŋ/ (US).
Words near social distancing in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: social distancing (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-AnotherFriendlyHuman-social distancing.wav.
Cite this entry: “social distancing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/social_distancing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.