syndrome
- 01 C1 Advanced
a group of medical signs and symptoms that always happen together and show that someone has a specific illness.
a recognizable pattern of signs and symptoms that characterize a particular disease or medical condition.
Simple“Down syndrome is a genetic condition that affects how a person's body and brain develop.”
In context“The patient presented with a rare metabolic syndrome that required a multidisciplinary team of specialists to manage effectively.”
UsageOften used with a specific name, such as 'Irritable Bowel Syndrome' or 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome'.
Teacher's tipWhile often used interchangeably with 'disease' by learners, a syndrome refers specifically to the collection of symptoms rather than the cause itself.
- 02 C1 Advanced
a set of behaviors or feelings that people often show in a specific situation.
a predictable set of characteristics or behaviors identifying a certain social or psychological condition, often with a negative connotation.
Simple“Many new employees suffer from 'imposter syndrome' where they feel they are not good enough for the job.”
In context“The 'tall poppy syndrome' describes a social phenomenon where people are criticized or resented for their high level of success.”
UsageFrequently appears in the structure '[Name] syndrome' to describe a specific social or psychological trend.
Teacher's tipIn non-medical contexts, this word is often used to label a specific social problem or a common psychological struggle.
Synonyms
“The government estimates that around a third of funding for people with Down Syndrome is spent on social funding.”
“These two major autism risk genes are also connected to Phelan-McDermid syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders.”
Learned borrowing from New Latin syndrome, from Ancient Greek συνδρομή (sundromḗ, “concurrence of symptoms, concourse”), from σύνδρομος (súndromos, “running together”), from συν- (sun-, “with”) + δρόμος (drómos, “running, course”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.