systemic
Americanadjective
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of or relating to a system, especially when affecting the entirety of a thing.
systemic flaws in the design and construction of the vehicles.
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relating to or noting a policy, practice, or set of beliefs that has been established as normative or customary throughout a political, social, or economic system: systemic racism.
systemic inequality;
systemic racism.
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Physiology, Pathology.
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relating to or affecting the body as a whole.
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relating to or affecting a particular body system.
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(of a pesticide) absorbed and circulated by a plant or other organism so as to be lethal to pests that feed on it.
adjective
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another word for systematic systematic
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physiol (of a poison, disease, etc) affecting the entire body
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(of a pesticide, fungicide, etc) spreading through all the parts of a plant and making it toxic to pests or parasites without destroying it
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of systemic
Explanation
Something that's systemic affects all parts of something. If every dog at doggy daycare has fleas, it's a systemic problem. The adjective systemic is often used to describe diseases or disorders; a systemic illness affects your whole body or an entire system — like your digestive system. Any kind of system can experience systemic problems. For example, crime is a systemic problem in a community because it affects everyone from individuals to families, businesses, and tourism, just to name a few groups harmed by the problem.
Vocabulary lists containing systemic
President Biden's Inaugural Speech (January 2021)
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Stamped
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Just Mercy
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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.
“It is time for new leadership and systemic change.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
In a report following the first phase of the inquiry, chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick condemned LFB's "serious shortcomings" and systemic failures in its response to the fire.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Researchers intend to launch a large randomized clinical trial testing whether prevention guided by imaging can slow or reduce the systemic progression of atherosclerosis.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
She has acknowledged the influence of Dickens’s “outrage, inventiveness and empathy,” and her sprawling books—larger-than-life, tragedy prone and sometimes ponderously socially conscious—depict systemic cruelty and heroic resilience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
What may have looked like separate events were all evidence of seismic and systemic social change.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
Definitions 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.
