Synonyms of pandemic

pandemic 1 of 2

noun

as in epidemic

medical an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world

The 1918 flu pandemic claimed millions of lives.

the AIDS pandemic

Related Words

• epidemic
• plague
• pestilence
• infection
• illness
• pest
• contagion
• malady
• ailment
• sickness
• blight
• murrain
• infirmity
• scourge
• affection
• curse
• affliction

pandemic

2 of 2

adjective

as in widespread

Related Words

• widespread
• pervasive
• prevalent
• general
• rife
• public
• prevailing
• universal
• overall
• unanimous
• common
• ruling
• popular
• contemporary
• current
• received
• majority
• present
• usual
• pop
• familiar
• dominant
• everyday
• predominant
• characteristic
• household
• communal
• typical
• well-known
• preponderant
• shared

Dissimilar Words

• unknown
• unusual
• special
• rare
• strange
• individual
• unique
• personal
• peculiar
• distinctive
• separate
• private
• idiosyncratic
• especial
• singular
• uncommon
• unpopular
• nonpublic

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of pandemic

Noun

Sofia and Eleanor Coppola began working on the commemorative documentary together while quarantining together during 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic, with Sofia ultimately finishing the film following her mother’s death. — Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2026

The shot is the first flu vaccine made with the mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic. — Mike Stobbe, Chicago Tribune, 25 Sep. 2026

Adjective

Skepticism about the government’s pandemic response is one thing. — Sally C. Pipes, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026

Eugène Brieux’s Les Avariés (1901) went a shocking step further, depicting in forensic detail the syphilis pandemic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. — Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026