subvariant

noun

sub·​var·​i·​ant ˌsəb-ˈver-ē-ənt 

plural subvariants

: one of two or more distinctive forms or types of the same variant

New York state health officials said mid-April that the Omicron subvariants known as BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 accounted for more than 90 percent of new cases in central New York state.

—The Boston Globe

… the subvariant differs in some of the mutations, including in the spike protein …

—Shepard Price

Dodge now has the 797-horsepower Hellcat Redeye, a more street-friendly, less drag-strip-intended subvariant of the 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.

—Robert Duffer

He described it as a subvariant of the New England IPA, which is indeed one of the hottest beer styles going right now.

—Chris Drosner

He's superb, as is the wincing, cringing Shandling, who plays a subvariant of the same sort of scoundrel.

—Jonathan Lethem

Examples of subvariant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some 389,648 people in Israel have so far taken the shot, which targets the original strain and its BA.4/BA.5 Omicron subvariant. —Fox News, 19 Jan. 2023

The majority of positive cases are attributed to the BA.5 omicron subvariant, which is now the dominant variant. —Kimi Robinson, The Arizona Republic, 6 Aug. 2022

Take the recent news about the latest Omicron subvariant, labeled BA.5. —Kent Sepkowitz, CNN, 20 July 2022

But so far this variant has made little headway outside of India, casting doubt on its ability to supplant the dominant Omicron subvariant. —Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Oct. 2022

The boosters' bivalent formula targets both the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariant, as well as the original strain of the virus that circulated back in 2020. —Brigid Kennedy, The Week, 31 Aug. 2022

Although the latest omicron subvariant, BA.5, has fueled a wave of infections in many parts of the country over the past two months, the great majority of those cases have not required hospitalization. —Lena H. Sun and Joel Achenbach, Anchorage Daily News, 12 Aug. 2022

But officials also are closely watching a new Omicron subvariant, BA.4.6. —Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2022

The move comes amid a surge in the highly transmissible BA.5 omicron subvariant; The New York Times counted 2,576 new cases in California's Santa Clara County—home to Apple HQ—as of the week ending July 29. —Stephanie Mlot, PCMAG, 2 Aug. 2022

Word History

Etymology

sub- + variant entry 2

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

subvariant

noun

sub·​var·​i·​ant ˌsəb-ˈver-ē-ənt 

: one of two or more distinctive forms or types of the same variant

a highly contagious subvariant of the virus

Of the identified Omicron subvariants, the subvariant BA.1 was dominantly prevalent in the early days after Omicron emerged from November 2021.

—Hirofumi Ohashi et al., Antiviral Research

UP [=urticaria pigmentosa] is the most frequent form of cutaneous mastocytosis. A subvariant consists of non-pigmented, plaque forming lesions that occur most often in infants.

—M. C. Carter and D. D. Metcalfe, Archives of Disease in Childhood