epilepsy

noun

Simple meaning

A medical condition in which the sufferer experiences seizures and blackouts.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ehpuhlepsee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɛpəlɛpsi

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

pathology
A medical condition in which the sufferer experiences seizures (or convulsions) and blackouts.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency: Moderately Common
Formality: Technical
Typical Use: Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (pathology) A medical condition in which the sufferer experiences seizures (or convulsions) and blackouts.

Used this way, epilepsy is a specialist word with a clearly unfavourable pull. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.

Emotional tone: Negative
Formality: Specialist/technical
Intensity: Gentle
How common: Specialized
Connotation: Serious and weighty
Usage feel: Clinical and detached

Where it naturally appears

Medicine/healthcare
Science
Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Medical

epilepsy surgery

Disorder

psychomotor epilepsyepilepsy res

Other combinations

focal epilepsylobe epilepsypartial epilepsyidiopathic epilepsyepilepsy foundation

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

tonic epilepsynounCompound term
Epilepsy in which the body is rigid during the seizure.
cortical epilepsynounCompound term
Epilepsy in which the attacks begins with an isolated disturbance of cerebral function (as a twitching of a limb or an illusory sensation or a mental disturbance).
focal epilepsynounCompound term
Epilepsy in which the attacks begins with an isolated disturbance of cerebral function (as a twitching of a limb or an illusory sensation or a mental disturbance).
generalized epilepsynounCompound term
Epilepsy in which the attacks involve loss of consciousness and tonic spasms of the musculature followed by generalized jerking.
grand mal epilepsynounCompound term
Epilepsy in which the attacks involve loss of consciousness and tonic spasms of the musculature followed by generalized jerking.
jacksonian epilepsynounCompound term
Focal epilepsy in which the attack usually moves from distal to proximal limb muscles on the same side of the body.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

epilepsia majornounRelated term
Epilepsy in which the attacks involve loss of consciousness and tonic spasms of the musculature followed by generalized jerking.
epilepsia minornounRelated term
Epilepsy characterized by paroxysmal attacks of brief clouding of consciousness (and possibly other abnormalities).

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “epilepsy” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

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.