syndemic
syndemic noun: an aggregation of two or more diseases that interact synergistically within a population.
Noun
syndemic (plural syndemics)
- An aggregation of two or more diseases that interact synergistically within a population.
- In sum malnutrition, infectious disease, and cognitive impairment constitute a syndemic that is rooted in and perpetuates suboptimal social, political, and economic conditions.2009, Elaine Marie Bennett, Understanding Childhood Malnutrition in a Maya Village in Guatemala, page 11
- The aggregation of these diseases on a background of social and economic disparity exacerbates the adverse effects of each separate disease. COVID-19 is not a pandemic. It is a syndemic.2020 September 26, Richard Horton, “Offline: COVID-19 is not a pandemic”, in The Lancet, volume 396, number 10255, →DOI
Adjective
syndemic (not comparable)
- Describing such a situation
- The syndemic nature of the threat we face means that a more nuanced approach is needed if we are to protect the health of our communities.2020 September 26, Richard Horton, “Offline: COVID-19 is not a pandemic”, in The Lancet, volume 396, number 10255, →DOI
Forms of syndemic
| plural | syndemics |
|---|
Origin of syndemic
Coined by Merrill Singer in the mid-1990s. Blend of synergy + demic (“of a population”). Compare epidemic (literally “upon the people”).
Words formed from syndemic
Words that rhyme with syndemic
- academic
- epidemic
- chemic
- demic
- endemic
- polemic
- infodemic
- pandemic
- philodemic
- philopolemic
- plandemic
- postpandemic
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- systemic
- 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
Questions about syndemic
- What does syndemic mean?
- Syndemic means an aggregation of two or more diseases that interact synergistically within a population.
- What part of speech is syndemic?
- Syndemic can be a noun or an adjective.
- What is the plural of syndemic?
- The plural of syndemic is syndemics.
Words near syndemic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: syndemic (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:
Cite this entry: “syndemic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/syndemic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.