symptomatic

adjective

symp·tom·at·ic | \ ˌsim(p)-tə-ˈma-tik

Definition of symptomatic

1a : being a symptom of a disease

b : having the characteristics of a particular disease but arising from another cause symptomatic epilepsy resulting from brain damage

2 : concerned with, affecting, or having symptoms symptomatic treatment a symptomatic patient

3 : characteristic, indicative his behavior was symptomatic of his character

Other Words from symptomatic Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about symptomatic

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Examples of symptomatic in a Sentence

a fever's refusal to respond to antibiotics is symptomatic of a viral infection

Recent Examples on the Web

Any of the wide array of reactions could be symptomatic of a hard-wiring for stress—a predisposition to abrupt reactions in demanding situations. — WSJ, "Relaxation Guide For Stressful Times," 3 Nov. 2018 This burst in inflammatory responses may have sparked the dormant Ebola into a symptomatic disease, which then spread to her husband and children. — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, "Ebola mysteriously hid in a woman for more than a year before spreading," 27 July 2018 Government and private insurance pay to screen for these illnesses, but not for carotid screening of non-symptomatic people, which can cost about $70 a person. — Thomas M. Burton, WSJ, "The Scan That Saved My Life," 25 Aug. 2018 Children being put into cages is terrible, and it’s indicative and symptomatic of a much larger problem. — Emily Dreyfuss, WIRED, "'ICE Is Everywhere': Using Library Science to Map the Separation Crisis," 25 June 2018 The second group is children who don't outgrow the disorder and are still symptomatic but lose enough characteristics that they can't be officially diagnosed. — Michelle Watson, CNN, "Millions of kids on ADHD meds decide their treatment as adults," 6 June 2018 The degree to which there appear to be changing priorities is symptomatic of having revolving leadership. — Michael Cooper, New York Times, "Turmoil at Lincoln Center: Infighting, Money Troubles, Scrapped Projects," 1 July 2018 Jorge Valdano, who scored in the final when Argentina won the World Cup in 1986, told the Guardian how Messi's troubles were symptomatic of muddled thinking from top to bottom. — Thomas Allnutt, chicagotribune.com, "Messi delivers as Argentina scrape through to World Cup's last 16," 26 June 2018 Within hours of Lands’ End supplying the new outfits to 64,000 employees, reports of symptomatic reactions began circulating on social media, Promo Marketing magazine reported. — Fox News, "Delta's $20 million uniforms causing 'chafing,' 'irritation,' some employees claim," 7 June 2018

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