epidemic
adjective
ep·i·dem·ic
| \ ˌe-pə-ˈde-mik
\
\
Definition of epidemic
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time
typhoid was epidemic
2a
: excessively prevalent
b
: contagious sense 4
epidemic laughter
3
: characterized by very widespread growth or extent : of, relating to, or constituting an epidemic
the practice had reached epidemic proportions
epidemic
noun
ep·i·dem·ic
| \ ˌe-pə-ˈde-mik
\
\
Definition of epidemic (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: an outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time : an outbreak of epidemic disease
2
: an outbreak or product of sudden rapid spread, growth, or development
an epidemic of bankruptcies
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Other Words from epidemic
Adjective
epidemical
\ ˌe-pə-ˈde-mi-kəl
\
adjective
\
adjective
epidemically
\ ˌe-pə-ˈde-mi-k(ə-)lē
\
adverb
\
adverb
epidemicity
\ ˌe-pə-də-ˈmi-sə-tē
\
noun
\
noun
Synonyms for epidemic
Synonyms: Adjective
catching, contagious, infectious, spreading
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Examples of epidemic in a Sentence
Adjective
Overuse injuries—particularly in the elbows and shoulders of young pitchers—are indeed becoming epidemic. Orthopedists often blame coaches and parents for failing to monitor how many pitches kids are throwing and for not giving them time to rest their arms. — Sara Corbett, New York Times Sports Magazine, June 2006 The dream of running off to live the good life in a postcard perfect town in the mountains or by the sea often reaches epidemic proportions near the end of summer. — John Rasmus, National Geographic, September 2004 Saturday Night Fever propelled disco fever to epidemic proportions: By 1978, 40 percent of all the music on Billboard's Hot 100 was disco. — Peter Braunstein, American Heritage, November 1999 the little girl's giggles were epidemic, and soon the entire gathering was laughingNoun
Cosmetic surgery is now so prevalent that it could qualify as a national epidemic. — Toni Bentley, New York Times Book Review, 22 Oct. 2006 "Spim," as people are beginning to call unsolicited instant messages, is the latest installment in the growing epidemic of unwanted electronic ads and a further sign that unscrupulous online marketers will seek to take advantage of all of the Internet's communication tools, not limiting themselves to spam or pop-up ads. — David McGuire, WashingtonPost.com, 13 Nov. 2003 Whatever might have motivated Kennedy to put [Ian] Fleming on his list, from that point, Bond became an international obsession. When the first Bond film appeared in 1962—Dr. No—the obsession was a full-blown craze, a cultural epidemic. — Gerald Early, New Letters, 1999
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Last year, a global public-private partnership named the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was formed to accelerate vaccine development for epidemic infectious diseases threats. — Ron Klain, Vox, "A pandemic killing tens of millions of people is a real possibility — and we are not prepared for it," 15 Oct. 2018 Fever, headaches and sometimes rash are common symptoms of epidemic typhus fever, which has the potential to spread rapidly among people living in close quarters, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. — Susan Scutti, CNN, "'Crowding diseases' threaten migrant children held in US border protection facilities, expert says," 24 June 2019 Reaching epidemic proportions on no less than five occasions during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, sweating sickness was highly lethal. — Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, "The Cause of Prince Arthur Tudor's Death Remains a Medical Mystery," 13 May 2019 Some world leaders have backed a plan first proposed by then-German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to create a multinational white helmet brigade that could provide security and logistical dimensions to an epidemic response. — Ron Klain, Vox, "A pandemic killing tens of millions of people is a real possibility — and we are not prepared for it," 15 Oct. 2018 And only heightened by the fact that STD rates are at an all-time high, there's no doubt that opening up the biological treatment to a wider range of women is a major stride for a health concern that's approaching epidemic proportions. — Lauren Valenti, Vogue, "The HPV Vaccine is Now Available to Women Over 27—Here’s Why It’s Great News for You," 8 Oct. 2018 Wochit As Marion County sees its hepatitis C rate soar to epidemic proportions, local health officials Thursday called for the county to start the state’s eighth syringe exchange program. — Shari Rudavsky, Indianapolis Star, "Marion County could get needle exchange program, as hepatitis C rates soar," 17 May 2018 Broward, like many other local governments across the country, is suing or considering suing the companies because of the large costs incurred as the opioid epidemic taxes local police and emergency medical services. — Larry Barszewski, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Broward sues over opioids, including Walmart, Walgreens and CVS," 15 Mar. 2018 In 2016, the World Health Organization added Lassa fever to its list of priority pathogens of epidemic potential, calling for more research. — Leslie Roberts, Science | AAAS, "Health workers scramble to contain deadly rat-borne fever in Nigeria," 12 Mar. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Many public health experts and politicians have blamed Juul, the largest e-cigarette maker in the U.S., for the youth vaping epidemic. — Catherine Ho, SFChronicle.com, "Juul dominates SF ballot measure spending, shelling out $4.3 million to defend vaping," 16 Aug. 2019 This technology would resemble the methods that political scientists and intelligence agencies use to build computational models of societies undergoing perturbations like food crises and epidemics. — Wired Opinion, WIRED, "AI Algorithms Need FDA-Style Drug Trials," 15 Aug. 2019 In its lawsuit, the state claims Juul is largely responsible for what the surgeon general and the Food and Drug Administration have called a youth e-cigarette epidemic. — Erika Edwards, NBC News, "Illinois county sues e-cigarette maker Juul over youth marketing," 13 Aug. 2019 Many families in the epidemic zone have been hiding their sick or bringing them in near death, too late to save. — Donald G. Mcneil Jr., BostonGlobe.com, "Two new Ebola treatments prove highly effective in Congo epidemic, will be offered to all patients," 12 Aug. 2019 Inmates suicides are an epidemic corrections officials won’t talk about. — Andrew Cohen, The New Republic, "The Completely Predictable Death of Jeffrey Epstein," 11 Aug. 2019 But in the past few days, Rufail’s profession has been criticized by politicians and pundits who argue that violent video games have at least in part fueled America’s mass shooting epidemic. — Patrick Lucas Austin, Time, "'I Have Never Felt the Need to Enact Any Kind of Violence.' Pro Gamers Say Guns, Not Games, Are to Blame for Shootings," 9 Aug. 2019 The Philippines declared a national dengue epidemic. — The Economist, "Politics this week," 8 Aug. 2019 With almost two hundred additional deaths in the past month, the crisis has now escalated to a national epidemic. — Jessie Yeung, CNN, "Philippines declares a national dengue epidemic after 622 deaths," 7 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'epidemic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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