epidemic
Americanadjective
-
Also epidemical (of a disease) affecting many persons at the same time, and spreading from person to person in a locality where the disease is not permanently prevalent.
-
extremely prevalent; widespread.
noun
-
epidemics
plural
-
a temporary prevalence of a disease.
-
a rapid spread or increase in the occurrence of something.
an epidemic of riots.
adjective
noun
-
a widespread occurrence of a disease
an influenza epidemic
-
a rapid development, spread, or growth of something, esp something unpleasant
an epidemic of strikes
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of epidemic
First recorded in 1595–1605; obsolete epidem(y) (from Late Latin epidēmia, from Greek epidēmía “staying in one place, among the people,” equivalent to epi- epi- + dêm(os) “people of a district” + -ia -y 3 ) + -ic
Explanation
An epidemic is a disease that spreads rapidly among many people in a community at the same time. In the 1980s, the fast-spreading AIDS epidemic transformed life on our planet. Epidemic can be used figuratively to refer to something that spreads or grows rapidly: an epidemic of laziness has taken over the tenth grade. This word is from French épidémique, ultimately from Greek epidēmia "staying in one place, among the people." The related word pandemic refers to a disease that spreads throughout an entire country or throughout the world.
Vocabulary lists containing epidemic
Human Geography - Middle School
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Human Geography - High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
List 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The federal case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Rospotrebnadzor said Wednesday that there were no "epidemic risks to the populations of Irkutsk and the Irkutsk Region".
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Health officials in Uganda, which had 20 cases earlier in the epidemic, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Experts say the data reflects the impact of the "global obesity epidemic, poor diets and insufficient exercise"
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
"It spreads fastest of all. We're going to need to shut it down before it becomes a citywide epidemic."
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
More than half of the deaths were due to the collapse of the health system, along with epidemics and famine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
If so, plague was already capable of causing deadly outbreaks in small human communities thousands of years before the rise of cities, crowded settlements, and the flea-driven epidemics that would later make the disease infamous.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
Tung's rocky tenure was marked by the Asian Financial Crisis, two major epidemics, and historic protests which attracted criticism of his administration.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
"Respect for humanitarian personnel and humanitarian activities is essential to ensuring that communities affected by epidemics and other crises continue to receive the assistance and services they urgently need," it said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Those epidemics involved relatively straightforward and simple things — a product and a message.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
