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epidemic

epidemic

212 4.6
A disease that spreads to many people in one area at the same time
  • noun
  • /ˌɛpɪˈdɛmɪk/
: epidemia
  • This epidemic must be contained.
  • epidemic of infectious disease
  • the epidemic spread
  • AIDS epidemic

Uncle Aim died during the COVID epidemic, not of COVID, but of other things.

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Examples

  • And the the COVID epidemic is not over.

  • Less visible, but no less pervasive is the national epidemic of mental health issues.

  • Why did an epidemic start and why did it end?

  • And you can see from this that the epidemic went up and then it came down again.

  • At least until this epidemic is over.

  • We're talking about an epidemic here.

  • Guess we're having an epidemic of heart attacks.

  • In fact, many people are referring to a global epidemic of diabetes.

  • Over the past decade, the epidemic has begun to spread through heterosexual transmission.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The United States is experiencing an epidemic of obesity among both adults and children.

Synonyms

outbreak
vsepidemic
194 3.5

A sudden start of disease or violence that affects many people

is a widespread occurrence of infection in a community rather than a sudden start
epidemic disease
vsepidemic
3 3.5

A disease that spreads quickly and affects many people in one area

is the event of that illness spreading widely at a particular time

Antonyms

1 7.8

A plant, animal, or disease that is regularly found in a particular place

Compounds

6 2.8

A large outbreak of flu that affects many people in one area

A disease that spreads quickly and affects many people in one area

epidemic cholera
  • Specialized
1 6.0

A sudden outbreak of a severe stomach infection that affects many people through dirty water or food

epidemic meningitis
  • Specialized
1 6.7

A serious infection of the brain lining that spreads quickly and can kill if not treated

epidemic hysteria
  • Specialized
1 8.8

A large group of people suddenly become very afraid and act without thinking, spreading quickly

1 8.6

An infection of the brain that makes people unable to move their eyes and feel very weak during 1915–1926 outbreaks

1 6.0

A very common situation where many people feel alone and lack close friends

epidemic myalgia
  • Specialized
8.6

A disease that causes sudden chest pain and spreads in outbreaks

epidemic parotitis
  • Specialized
5.9

A viral disease called mumps that causes fever and swelling of the glands by the ears and spreads easily

epidemic pleurodynia
  • Specialized
9.9

A sudden infection that causes sharp chest pain during outbreaks

epidemic roseola
  • Specialized
9.0

A contagious viral illness that causes a short fever and rash and can harm an unborn baby early in pregnancy

How Widespread

pandemic
  • Specialized
42 4.0
epidemic
212 4.6
outbreak
194 3.5
cluster
189 3.1

Surface Forms

epidemic singular
epidemics plural

Morphology

epidemic = epi + dem + ic

Built from Greek combining forms (epi- + dem- + -ic); the parts are etymologically meaningful but not standalone English words, so the relation is only partially obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Epidemic comes from Greek parts epi- 'upon' and demos 'people', so it originally meant 'upon the people'. You can see the demos part in democracy, which also means 'people'. That's why an epidemic today is a disease that spreads over many people in a community at the same time.