immunodeficiency
Americannoun
-
immunodeficiencies
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of immunodeficiency
First recorded in 1970–75; immuno- + deficiency
Explanation
When someone's body can't protect itself from infection the way it should, they suffer from an immunodeficiency. Many patients being treated for cancer have immunodeficiencies. Your immune system is the network of cells that works to fight infection throughout your body, and when it isn't functioning well, the result is immunodeficiency. The word is rooted in the Latin immunis, "exempt," and deficere, "to fail." In other words, immunodeficiency is a failure of the system that keeps you free from infections and illness. Various diseases, genetic conditions, and medications can result in this risky situation.
Vocabulary lists containing immunodeficiency
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 growth was driven by strong sales of products for treatment of HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, which rose 10% to $5 billion, as well as the drugs Trodelvy and Livdelzi.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, spreads through unprotected sex, unsafe medical practices, infected blood transfusions, or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2025
Conversely, interventions that inhibit Rinl could be used in immunodeficiency to help the body fight disease.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2023
The legal dispute centered on who devised the idea of using a Gilead medication for people at high risk of contracting H.I.V., or the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2023
Further, medical experts have repeatedly emphasized that COVID-19 vaccination has not been linked to developing HIV, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which is caused by HIV.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2023
They include the elderly and people with immunodeficiencies that put them at greater COVID-19 risk.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2022
Although Covid presents relatively few risks to children and vaccinated adults under 50, it presents more to older people and some with specific immunodeficiencies.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2021
These are the pandemic experiences of immunocompromised people—those with organ transplants or certain cancers, those on chemotherapy or immunosuppressant drugs, those with genetic immunodeficiencies, those with other issues that suppress their immune systems.
From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2021
Cancer patients undergoing active treatment, some organ and stem cell transplant recipients, people with moderate or severe immunodeficiencies, people with advanced or untreated HIV, and those taking high-dose corticosteroids are in this group.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 17, 2021
Rarely, primary immunodeficiencies that are present from birth may also occur.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013
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