social disease
1
4.6
- noun
- /ˈsoʊʃəl dɪˈziːz/
- NSFW
:
enfermedad social
- How did a nice girl like you... come to contract a social disease?
Examples
-
Several men in the regiment were down with a social disease and were still under treatment with mercury by Emil.
Fiction book (1990) -
Tuberculosis is characterized as a social disease, and few have been more inextricably linked with human history.
Blog text (30) -
In my professional opinion, what we got here is a run-of-the-mill juvenile delinquent, and juvenile delinquency is a social disease.
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It cures a whole range of infections, as a matter of fact, including some of the nastier social diseases.
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Many people believe that lack of access to healthcare can contribute to the spread of a social disease.
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The doctor explained that a social disease like chlamydia can be effectively treated with antibiotics.
-
Education about safe sexual practices is essential in preventing a social disease.
Synonyms
49
3.7
An infection you get through sexual contact
29
2.7
An illness you can get from someone when you have sex
12
9.9
An infection you catch from sexual contact
7
3.7
A disease spread by sexual contact
6
7.4
A contagious infection spread by sexual contact
1
5.8
A disease people get through sex
An infection you catch from another person during sex
An infection caught during sex, especially syphilis
An old name for syphilis, a disease you get by sex
Antonyms
∞
1.0
The condition of a person's body and mind, especially being free from illness or injury
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'social' (relating to society) and 'disease' would likely infer a disease that affects society or is spread socially, but the specific sense 'sexually transmitted infection' is not directly signaled by the constituents. The term is somewhat euphemistic/context-dependent and not a straightforward compositional label for STIs, so the relation is only partially transparent rather than fully predictable.
Etymology
Social disease began as a label doctors and city leaders used for a sickness that spread through society, often by sexual contact. That's why social plus disease came to mean 'a sexually transmitted infection'.