systemic

[si-stem-ik]

adjective

1. of or relating to a system, especially when affecting the entirety of a thing.

   systemic flaws in the design and construction of the vehicles.

2. relating to or noting a policy, practice, or set of beliefs that has been established as normative or customary throughout a political, social, or economic system: systemic racism.

   systemic inequality;

   systemic racism.

3. Physiology, Pathology.

   1. relating to or affecting the body as a whole.

   2. relating to or affecting a particular body system.

4. (of a pesticide) absorbed and circulated by a plant or other organism so as to be lethal to pests that feed on it.

systemic

/ -ˈstiː-, sɪˈstɛmɪk /

adjective

1. another word for systematic systematic

2. physiol (of a poison, disease, etc) affecting the entire body

3. (of a pesticide, fungicide, etc) spreading through all the parts of a plant and making it toxic to pests or parasites without destroying it

noun

1. a systemic pesticide, fungicide, etc

Other Word Forms

• systemically adverb
• nonsystemic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of systemic¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; system + -ic

Example Sentences

Russia’s military has adapted systemically over the last three years and used its relationships with Iran, China and North Korea effectively.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Demonstrators in the capital's Luneta Park, a short distance from the presidential palace, held crocodile-shaped signs calling for an end to systemic corruption.

Read more on Barron's

A review of the £6.3bn programme in 2023 highlighted "systemic, cultural and institutional problems" at the MoD and a "a number of errors of judgement" in the Ajax project.

Read more on BBC

Thousands of unpaid carers will have their cases reassessed after an official review found they had been left with huge debts caused by systemic failures.

Read more on BBC

But the Committee didn't get to the bottom of the accuracy of his claim about systemic problems in the way the BBC works.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• fundamental 
• integral 
• intrinsic