syphilis
noun
syph·i·lis
| \ ˈsi-f(ə-)ləs
\
\
Definition of syphilis
: a chronic contagious usually venereal and often congenital disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum) and if left untreated producing chancres, rashes, and systemic lesions in a clinical course with three stages continued over many years — compare primary syphilis, secondary syphilis, tertiary syphilis
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Other Words from syphilis
syphilitic
\ ˌsi-fə-ˈli-tik
\
adjective or noun
\
adjective or noun
Examples of syphilis in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Recently, there was an outbreak of syphilis in Sonoma. — Barnini Chakraborty, Fox News, "LA residents fed up with officials, demand change after homeless crisis spirals in city," 20 Aug. 2019 And much like syphilis, name-dropping is super-grody and spreads quickly. — David Canfield, EW.com, "Exclusive: Ross Mathews previews his new book full of juicy Hollywood stories," 13 Aug. 2019 Cases of gonorrhea and syphilis have gone up by 67 percent and 76 percent, respectively, during that time. — Christopher Harress | Charress@al.com, al, "Mobile in need as national blood shortage ‘worst’ in 15 years," 25 July 2019 Even though penicillin had been proven to treat syphilis by 1947, these men were denied the treatment. — Jason Ashe, The Conversation, "Not all Americans have a fair path to a good death – racial disparities are real," 24 June 2019 Chlamydia was next most common, with 127.2 million cases, followed by gonorrhea (86.9 million) and syphilis (6.3 million). — Jamie Ducharme, Time, "A Million New STIs Are Contracted Every Day, the WHO Says," 7 June 2019 Primary and secondary syphilis went up 76 percent, and congenital syphilis, passed down from parent to child instead of partner to partner, went up 154 percent. — Tess Vrbin, courant.com, "No awkward conversations: Department of Public Health promotes confidential notification service, aiming to reduce spread of STDs," 19 June 2019 In 2016, there were an estimated 376.4 million curable cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis and syphilis contracted among men and women ages 15 to 49, the WHO reports. — Jamie Ducharme, Time, "A Million New STIs Are Contracted Every Day, the WHO Says," 7 June 2019 While some STDs, like HIV and syphilis, can hang around in your body for a bit before symptoms pop up, they're typically known for being symptomatic. — Amy Marturana, SELF, "5 STDs You Can Have Without Knowing It," 28 Dec. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'syphilis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for syphilis
syphilis
noun
English Language Learners Definition of syphilis
medical
: a very serious disease that is spread through sexual intercourse
See the full definition for syphilis in the English Language Learners Dictionary
syphilis
noun
syph·i·lis
| \ ˈsif-(ə-)ləs
\
\
Medical Definition of syphilis
: a chronic contagious usually venereal and often congenital disease that is caused by a spirochete of the genus Treponema (T. pallidum) and if left untreated produces chancres, rashes, and systemic lesions in a clinical course with three stages continued over many years
— called also lues
— see primary syphilis, secondary syphilis, tertiary syphilisKeep scrolling for more