prevalence

noun prev·a·lence \ ˈpre-və-lən(t)s , ˈprev-lən(t)s \

Updated on: 14 Apr 2018

Definition of prevalence

1 : the quality or state of being prevalent

2 : the degree to which something is prevalent; especially : the percentage of a population that is affected with a particular disease at a given time

See prevalence defined for kids

Examples of prevalence in a Sentence

the prevalence of rumors when hard information is withheld from the public

Recent Examples of prevalence from the Web

The findings from the survey show that lack of communication between health care professionals and patients, as well as stigma and false beliefs about STD risks held by both groups, might be contributing to the prevalence of STDs.

— elly belle, Teen Vogue, "Study Found Many Young Women May Not Get Tested for STDs Because of Shame," 9 Apr. 2018
Twitter in particular has struggled with user growth for years, which CEO Jack Dorsey himself has linked to the prevalence of abuse on the site.

— david z. morris, Fortune, "Big Social Sites Are Cracking Down on Controversial Content. What Does that Mean for Society — And for Profits?," 7 Apr. 2018
The two countries most similar to the United States in their prevalence of chronic pain were Italy (42.8 percent) and France (47.8 percent).

— chicagotribune.com, "Americans take more opioids than any other country — but not because they're in more pain," 26 Mar. 2018
For several years, however, Carmel officials have tried to rein in its prevalence.

— aileen chuang, Indianapolis Star, "No love for Airbnb? Carmel thumbs nose at Indiana's new short-term rentals law," 24 Mar. 2018
Suggestions include getting Twitter to be more transparent with data and information about the prevalence of violence on the platform.

— madison malone kircher, Select All, "New Report Finds Twitter Violates Women’s Human Rights," 21 Mar. 2018
That would give the public a better understanding of the prevalence of dubious police testimony.

— joseph goldstein, New York Times, "Police ‘Testilying’ Remains a Problem. Here Is How the Criminal Justice System Could Reduce It.," 22 Mar. 2018
Each year Facebook should publish a report on its conduct that sets out everything from the prevalence of fake news to privacy breaches.

— The Economist, "What Zuckerberg should doFacebook faces a reputational meltdown," 22 Mar. 2018
In terms of the prevalence of binge-drinking, California ranks 30th at 16.7 percent.

— michael mcgough, sacbee, "Do Californians love to binge drink? New CDC study looks at U.S. alcohol habits | The Sacramento Bee," 17 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'prevalence.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.