walking pneumonia

American  

[waw-king noo-mohn-yuh, -moh-nee-uh, nyoo-] / ˈwɔ kɪŋ nʊˈmoʊn yə, -ˈmoʊ ni ə, nyʊ- /

noun

1. a type or case of pneumonia that is relatively mild and thus typically does not require the infected person to be hospitalized or confined to a bed.

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Etymology

Origin of walking pneumonia

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Because this was the family’s busy season, he insisted on working despite a bad cold that turned into walking pneumonia, Louis Jr. said.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

When Lakeisha Preston in Mississippi was diagnosed with walking pneumonia in 2019, she ended up with a $4,500 medical bill she couldn’t pay.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2024

Kathryn Vaughn, an art teacher in Covington, Tenn., works at a rural elementary school that’s so understaffed that she’s kept teaching — with a mask — even with RSV and walking pneumonia.

From Washington Post • Nov. 15, 2022

Video clips posted online by fans who were at the performance showed John breaking down in tears as he told the cheering crowd that he could not go on any longer due to walking pneumonia.

From Fox News • Feb. 17, 2020

Whatever he had, it was clearly more than a cold—perhaps a bronchial infection or walking pneumonia.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown