vitiligo
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing vitiligo
Unfadeable
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How to Disappear Completely
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Boy 2.0
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An Instagram account with millions of views shows a woman in swimsuits and gymwear whose body is bisected by vitiligo so she is exactly half white and half brown.
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
Labeled “the devil’s child” for her vitiligo at her orphanage, DePrince found hope in a magazine photo of an American ballerina in pointe shoes.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 16, 2024
However, when not controlled properly, some of these skin TRM cells can contribute to autoimmune diseases, such as psoriasis and vitiligo.
From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2023
Even worse,I was a girl child—and a spotted one at that, because I was born with a skin condition called vitiligo, which caused me to look like a baby leopard.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
