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.

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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

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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

Derived Forms

• syndromic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• syndromes
  plural

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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

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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

Embassy in Havana began reporting strange sounds and feelings of nausea and brain fog, a cluster of symptoms that became known as Havana syndrome.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

He went on to describe his relationship with a niece who has Down syndrome and looks like him, and to talk about a coffee shop his family owns that employs people with her disability.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Together, these symptoms suggested Marfan syndrome, an inherited condition that weakens connective tissues throughout the body.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

Such conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, result in gastrointestinal symptoms related to the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

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 "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Aging in the blood-forming system is closely associated with a greater risk of serious and often incurable blood cancers, including leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

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

I am not someone to pity, with an unstable mind and weird pain syndromes.

From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart

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Related Words

• ailment
• disorder
• malady
• problem
• sickness

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