social disease
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of social disease
First recorded in 1915–20
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.
Until recently, it was considered a social disease and was illegal except in limited circumstances.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
William Osler, often described as the father of modern medicine, put it like this: “Tuberculosis is a social disease with a medical aspect.”
From Salon • Feb. 21, 2025
Antisemitism, like Anti-Arabism and racism, is a social disease that can be confronted only by us standing together, Syrian- and Israeli-sympathizing Americans alike.
From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2022
I wanted to help make a point together with all my fellow Argentines that misogyny is a social disease and that we are ready to fight to erradicate it.
From The Guardian • Oct. 21, 2016
In a description recently given of the "moral, religious, and social disease" which broke out A.D.
From The God-Idea of the Ancients or Sex in Religion by Gamble, Eliza Burt
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.
