vitiligo

American  

[vit-l-ahy-goh, -ee-goh] / ˌvɪt lˈaɪ goʊ, -ˈi goʊ /

noun

Pathology.

1. a skin disorder characterized by smooth, white patches on various parts of the body, caused by the loss of the natural pigment.

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vitiligo British  

/ ˌvɪtɪˈlaɪɡəʊ /

noun

1. another name for leucoderma

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Other Word Forms

• vitiliginous adjective
• vitiligoid adjective

Etymology

Origin of vitiligo

1650–60; < Latin vitilīgō form of skin eruption, apparently equivalent to *vitil ( is ) defective ( vit ( ium ) blemish + -ilis -ile ) + -īgō noun suffix

Explanation

A skin condition that results in pale patches on a person's skin is called vitiligo. Once vitiligo first appears, it often spreads to other parts of the body. There's no known cure for vitiligo, which has no physical symptoms aside from a loss of pigmentation, or color, on a person's skin. The difficult part of having vitiligo is that people can be stigmatized or bullied for looking different. Recently, however, more companies have been using models with vitiligo in ad campaigns to show that looking different is beautiful.

Example Sentences

"The internet doesn't want a perfect face. It wants character. So give them scars, give them style," says a promotional video for Higgsfield, adding "AI influencers with vitiligo have been really popular lately".

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

"If there's anything, I'll recognise him - my son's leg is amputated, and he has vitiligo... His hair is white. I'd know him," she added.

From BBC • Oct. 15, 2025

The Fashionistas series also includes dolls with vitiligo, prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2025

This strategy could also be adapted to treat other autoimmune skin diseases such as vitiligo, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis, the researchers say.

From Science Daily • May 9, 2024

Do I have some kind of super strain of vitiligo or something?

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish