Word.ws English Dictionary

when America sneezes, the world catches a cold

when America sneezes, the world catches a cold proverb: events in the United States tend to have a major impact on other countries.

Proverb

when America sneezes, the world catches a cold

  1. Events in the United States tend to have a major impact on other countries.

Origin of when America sneezes, the world catches a cold

Originates from a similar 19th-century statement about France and Europe, from Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, an Austrian diplomat.

Questions about when America sneezes, the world catches a cold

What does when America sneezes, the world catches a cold mean?
When America sneezes, the world catches a cold means events in the United States tend to have a major impact on other countries.
What part of speech is when America sneezes, the world catches a cold?
When America sneezes, the world catches a cold is a proverb.

Words near when America sneezes, the world catches a cold in the dictionary

  1. when Adam was an oakum boy
  2. when Adam was an oakum boy in Chatham Dockyard
  3. when all is said
  4. when all is said and done
  5. when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail
  6. when America sneezes, the world catches a cold
  7. when as
  8. when everything is said and done
  9. when God closes a door he opens a window
  10. when heck freezes over
  11. when Hell freezes over

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: when America sneezes, the world catches a cold (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.

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