risk factor

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noun

a condition, behavior, or other factor that increases risk: Smoking is a major risk factor for cancer;depression as a risk factor in suicide.

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Origin of risk factor

First recorded in 1945–50

Words nearby risk factor

risk, risk-averse, risk aversion, risk-benefit, risk capital, risk factor, risk life and limb, risk management, risktaker, risky, Risorgimento

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use risk factor in a sentence

Some states have moved adults over 65 up the priority list regardless of their other risk factors.
Chicago thinks Zocdoc can help solve its vaccine chaos|Lindsay Muscato|February 12, 2021|MIT Technology Review
In an S-1 filing ahead of its ill-fated IPO attempt, WeWork included a recession among its risk factors.
Can the pandemic save WeWork?|Michelle Cheng|February 6, 2021|Quartz
Many of those who develop diabetes during or after covid-19 have risk factors, such as obesity or a family history of the disease.
New diabetes cases linked to covid-19|Erin Blakemore|February 1, 2021|Washington Post
Araneta and Anunciado also pointed out that there are also other risk factors, like that Filipinos are more likely to live in multigenerational households.
Filipino Residents Have Been Hit Hard by COVID – But No One Knows Just How Hard|Maya Srikrishnan|February 1, 2021|Voice of San Diego

Blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Americans can’t cut back on salt. One likely reason: Packaged and prepared foods are filled with it.|Marlene Cimons|January 31, 2021|Washington Post
Obsessive exercising and inadequate nutrition can, over time, put people at high risk for overuse injuries like stress fractures.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Together, the teams are working 24 hours a day for a product that promises much higher risk than it does profit.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It is the steady accretion of detail that may yet be the most damaging factor in the battle for British hearts and minds.
From Playboy Prince to Dirty Old Man?|Tom Sykes|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Politicians who openly associated with Duke, or his hard-core associates, did so at their own risk.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise|Jason Berry|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Advanced maternal age dramatically increases the risk of maternal mortality as well as birth defects like Down Syndrome.
Men Will Someday Have Kids Without Women|Samantha Allen|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But a lawyer who needed the wherewithal finally condescended to risk the task, and into it he plunged.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
If the Duke de Ripperda be found, he must be taken alive, at the risk of those who seek him.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
Assuredly, this was an occasion when the sacrifice of a few minutes might avoid the grave risk of a breakdown after daybreak.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
The hospitals in the capital were crowded with wounded soldiers, brought in at great risk from the rural districts.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
We find these figures in “Chance,”‌ which by Concurrence describes the risk they ran.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)

British Dictionary definitions for risk factor

risk factor

noun

med a factor, such as a habit or an environmental condition, that predisposes an individual to develop a particular disease

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012