syphilis
noun
syph·i·lis
ˈsi-f(ə-)ləs 
: a chronic contagious usually venereal and often congenital disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum) and if left untreated producing chancres, rashes, and systemic lesions in a clinical course with three stages continued over many years compare primary syphilis, secondary syphilis, tertiary syphilis
Examples of syphilis in a Sentence
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The decades-long study, performed by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, observed the long-term effects of syphilis in hundreds of impoverished Black men between 1932 and 1972.
—
Alexa Jurado, Journal Sentinel, 27 Dec. 2022
The medical field is working to rebuild trust with communities that have been wronged by events such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiments and the treatment of Henrietta Lacks.
—Donovan J. Thomas, ajc, 10 Dec. 2022
Even as recently as the 1970s U.S. physicians were conducting trials withholding treatment from African American men with syphilis, watching as hundreds of men went blind, died and passed on the disease to their spouses and children.
—Dr. Nicole Farha, ABC News, 10 Nov. 2022
Then his father told him about the Tuskegee experiment, in which Black men were deliberately infected with syphilis without consent.
—Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2022
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Alexa Jurado, Journal Sentinel, 27 Dec. 2022
The medical field is working to rebuild trust with communities that have been wronged by events such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiments and the treatment of Henrietta Lacks.
—Donovan J. Thomas, ajc, 10 Dec. 2022
Even as recently as the 1970s U.S. physicians were conducting trials withholding treatment from African American men with syphilis, watching as hundreds of men went blind, died and passed on the disease to their spouses and children.
—Dr. Nicole Farha, ABC News, 10 Nov. 2022
Then his father told him about the Tuskegee experiment, in which Black men were deliberately infected with syphilis without consent.
—Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2022
See All Example Sentences for syphilis
Cite this Entry
“Syphilis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syphilis. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
syphilis
noun
syph·i·lis
ˈsif-(ə-)ləs
: a venereal disease that is caused by a spirochete and if left untreated is marked by a series of three stages extending over many years
Medical Definition
syphilis
noun
syph·i·lis
ˈsif-(ə-)ləs
: a chronic contagious usually venereal and often congenital disease that is caused by a spirochete of the genus Treponema (T. pallidum) and if left untreated produces chancres, rashes, and systemic lesions in a clinical course with three stages continued over many years
called also lues
see primary syphilis, secondary syphilis, tertiary syphilisLove words? Need even more definitions?
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