syndrome

American  

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

noun

• syndromes
  plural

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.

---

syndrome British  

/ 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

---

syndrome Scientific  

/ sĭn′drōm′ /

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

---

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.

---

Discover More

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• syndromic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• syndromes
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of syndrome

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

---

Explanation

When you and your friends hang out together, you call it a party. When symptoms of an illness hang out together, they call it a syndrome. If you receive an invitation, politely decline. Syndrome comes from a Greek word that combines the root “to run” (dramein) with the prefix “together” (sun-). When many or all of the symptoms for a disease “run together,” that's a syndrome. You can also use syndrome in a figurative way to describe a type or pattern of behavior. If you have the “I'll do it tomorrow” syndrome, you put off doing a lot of things. At least you got around to reading about syndrome today.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

syndrome syndromes

I Swear, the biographical film about John Davidson's life growing up with Tourette syndrome, has received seven nominations for awards, while Edinburgh-based crime thriller Dept.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

The Treacher Collins syndrome, external and visible differences campaigner, who has been highlighting this issue for several years, believes the message was sent with good intent but was "super offensive".

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

When I was in college, I had a bad case of mononucleosis, which led to some chronic fatigue syndrome.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

It targets Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that raises the risk of colon, ovarian and other cancers and is carried by about a million people in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

You talk about Vietnam, and there was this whole history of post-traumatic stress syndrome, and I think that’s what we’re seeing now.

From "Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago" by LeAlan Jones

He was also concerned about how it would be received, especially for people with autism and other syndromes mentioned in the programme.

From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025

From a diagnostic standpoint, it overlaps with obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and trauma-related syndromes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025

And for those with hypermobility syndromes, meaning overly flexible joints, “it’s important to be mindful that increased stretching could lead to dislocations of the joints.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2025

But to move from hypothesis to proven treatment, he says, the scientific community urgently needs double-blind, randomized, controlled trials—the gold standard for treatment research—on nicotine therapy for post-acute infection syndromes.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2025

Plus, it's pretty much her job as a case worker to know stuff about different kinds of syndromes and stuff like that.

From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• ailment
• disorder
• malady
• problem
• sickness

---