epidemic
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehpuhdehmikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɛpəˈdɛmɪk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease; many people are infected at the same time
A widespread disease that affects many humans in a population.
epidemiology
An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a human population at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period; an episode of outbreak and subsequent high prevalence.
figurative
The spreading of an idea or belief amongst a population.
by extensioncolloquial
A heightened occurrence of anything harmful.
adjective
Of, related to, or being an epidemic: a widespread outbreak of disease in humans.
figurative
Like an epidemic: widespread in a bad way.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease; many people are infected at the same time
Used this way, epidemic is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It turns up most in medicine or healthcare contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use epidemic
- “The city declared a health emergency due to the flu epidemic.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.