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  

/ 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

---

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

In North and South America, including the Andes virus that has recently been in the news, infections can lead to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome.

From Science Daily • Jun. 22, 2026

Chris had a dangerous strain of E. coli, known as O157:H7, which led to hemolytic uremic syndrome.

From Salon • Jun. 22, 2026

"There's lots of really talented people with Down syndrome out there who are making things, but it kind of reinforces the narrative that people with Down syndrome can't and it must be AI," he said.

From Barron's • Jun. 18, 2026

The syndrome affects how women's ovaries work, according to the NHS, external.

From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026

Maybe he didn't mean any harm, and couldn't control himself—like a different kind of syndrome.

From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

• ailment
• disorder
• malady
• problem
• sickness