syndrome

American  

[sin-drohm, -druhm] / ˈsɪn droʊm, -drəm /

noun

1. Pathology, Psychiatry. a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder, disease, or the like.

2. a group of related or coincident things, events, actions, etc.

3. the pattern of symptoms that characterize or indicate a particular social condition.

4. a predictable, characteristic pattern of behavior, action, etc., that tends to occur under certain circumstances.

   the retirement syndrome of endless golf and bridge games; the feast-or-famine syndrome of big business.

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syndrome British  

/ sɪnˈdrɒmɪk, ˈsɪndrəʊm /

noun

1. med any combination of signs and symptoms that are indicative of a particular disease or disorder

2. a symptom, characteristic, or set of symptoms or characteristics indicating the existence of a condition, problem, etc

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syndrome Scientific  

/ sĭn′drōm′ /

1. An abnormal condition or disease that is identified by an established group of signs and symptoms.

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syndrome Cultural  

1. A set of signs and symptoms that appear together and characterize a disease or medical condition. AIDS is an example of a syndrome.

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Discover More

A collection of attitudes or behaviors that go together is often called a syndrome.

Other Word Forms

• syndromic adjective

Etymology

Origin of syndrome

1535–45; < New Latin < Greek syndromḗ concurrence, combination, equivalent to syn- syn- + drom-, base meaning “run” ( -drome ) + -ē feminine noun suffix

Example Sentences

Sometimes I play chess with one of my colleagues, an anchorite like myself, who suffers from post-polio syndrome.

From Literature

Cushing’s syndrome was the official diagnosis, possibly related to his MS and possibly not.

From Literature

“My name is Adam Costello,” I explain in a stage whisper, “and I have a fever of a hundred and four, as well as an ongoing syndrome that makes digesting anything living hell.”

From Literature

The course of radiation sickness, also called acute radiation syndrome, varies widely depending on what kind of radiation was absorbed and where in the body it causes the most damage.

From Literature

Instead, the tests administered by a child psychologist proved that their child had Asperger’s syndrome.

From Literature

Related Words

• ailment
• disorder
• malady
• problem
• sickness