pandemic

Language: en

🇺🇸 /pæˈndɛmɪk/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    An epidemic of infectious disease that has spread across a large region, such as multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of people.
  2. adjective
    Prevalent over a whole country or the world; widespread across a large geographic area, especially referring to a disease.; Widespread or universal in occurrence; affecting a large proportion of a population or area in a general sense, not limited to disease.
  3. noun
    A widespread occurrence of something undesirable or harmful across a large area or among a large number of people, used figuratively.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: pandemics

Collocations

global pandemicdeclare a pandemicpandemic outbreakpandemic responsepandemic preparednesspandemic lockdown

Derivatives

pandemically

Synonyms

epidemicplagueoutbreakscourgepestilence

Commonly confused

epidemic
EN: 'Epidemic' refers to a disease outbreak confined to a specific region or community, while 'pandemic' refers to one that spreads across multiple countries or continents worldwide.
endemic
EN: 'Endemic' describes a disease that is constantly present in a particular population or area, whereas 'pandemic' describes a widespread, often sudden, global outbreak.

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'pandemic' with 'epidemic' or 'endemic'; the prefix 'pan-' (meaning 'all') signals the global scope.

💬 Examples

  1. The 1918 influenza pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide.

  2. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic threat.

  3. Corruption was pandemic throughout the entire government.

  4. The opioid crisis has become a pandemic of addiction in rural America.