syndrome
noun
Did you know?
Combining its two Greek roots, syndrome means basically "running together". So when diagnosing a condition or disease, doctors tend to look for a group of symptoms existing together. As long as a set of symptoms remains mysterious, it may be referred to as a specific syndrome. But if that name is used for a while, it may become the condition's permanent name, even after an underlying cause has been found. So today we have Down syndrome, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Asperger's syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, sick building syndrome, and many more. And since mental conditions often turn out to have physical causes, syndrome is used in psychology as well as in medicine.
Examples of syndrome in a Sentence
Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 July 2025
About 10% of people with metastatic NSCLC experience a paraneoplastic syndrome.
—Carrie Madormo, Health, 18 July 2025
How preventing the superhero syndrome—over-dependance on one leader or top performer—can push your employees to grow.
—Maria Gracia Santillana Linares, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
Venus Williams said in 2011 she had been diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune disease that can cause joint pain.
—Howard Fendrich, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for syndrome
Cite this Entry
“Syndrome.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syndrome. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
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syndrome
noun
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