The World Health Organization (WHO) lists the Nipah virus as a developing disease that could cause a global pandemic. Ebola and Zika are also on this list.
Source: tatoeba (6990478)
Pandemic
/pænˈdɛmɪk/
Synonyms for "pandemic" (81 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (17)
Noun(3 words)
ambulatory plagueaveragebesettingblack deathblack plaguebubonic plaguecarnalcatchingcellulocutaneous plaguecommoncommunicablecontagiouscurrentdefervescing plague
Strong matches (24)
dominantendemicepidemialepidemicepiphytoticepizooticglandular plaguehemorrhagic plagueinfectiousinfectiveinoculablelarval plaguemurrainnormalordinarypandemia
Noun(8 words)
era-definingglobalglobal epidemicglobal outbreakglobal phenomenonhealth-relatedhistoricperiod-defining
Related words (40)
Noun(7 words)
pestpestholepestiferouspestilencepestilentialplagueplague spotpneumonic plaguepopularpredominantpredominatingpremonitory plagueprevailingprevalentrampantregnantreigningriferoutineruling
Show 13 more words
runningscourgesepticemic plaguesiderating plaguesporadicspreadingstandardstereotypedtakingtuberculosisusualwhite plaguezymotic
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: all encompassing, ambulatory plague, average, besetting, black death.
- Sentence evidence is available for pandemic, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from opengloss, moby, derived_reverse.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "pandemic".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "pandemic"
Keep "pandemic" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "pandemic" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "pandemic", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "pandemic" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
12 entriescompound adjectiveepidemiceraextent of spreadgeographic scaleglobal phenomenonglobal reachhistorical periodmass disseminationoutbreakphenomenontimeframe
More specific
12 entriesCOVID-19 pandemicCholera pandemicInfluenza pandemicfake news pandemicmisinformation pandemicpandemic fatiguepandemic misinformationpandemic politicspandemic seasonpandemic yearpandemic-related measurespandemic-related policy
Collocations
8 entriesglobal pandemicpandemic erapandemic outbreakpandemic planningpandemic preparednesspandemic responsepandemic riskpandemic wave
Inflections
3 entriesDerivations
5 entriessimilar
2 entriesTranslations
81 translations across 70 languages.
Afrikaans
1 entries- pandemie noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Albanian
1 entries- pandemi noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Arabic
1 entries- جَائِحَة noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Armenian
2 entries- համավարակ noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- պանդեմիա noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- pandemiya noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Basque
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Belarusian
1 entries- пандэмі́я noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Bengali
1 entries- অতিমারী noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Bulgarian
1 entries- панде́мия noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Catalan
1 entries- pandèmia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Chinese
1 entries- 瘟疫 noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Chinese Cantonese
1 entries- 瘟疫 noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Chinese Mandarin
2 entries- 大流行病 noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- 瘟疫 noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Czech
1 entries- pandemie noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Danish
1 entries- pandemi noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Dutch
1 entries- pandemie noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Esperanto
1 entries- pandemio noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Estonian
1 entries- pandeemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Faroese
1 entries- heimsfarsótt noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Finnish
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
French
1 entries- pandémie noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Galician
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Georgian
1 entries- პანდემია noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
German
1 entries- Pandemie noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Greek
1 entries- πανδημία noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Hebrew
1 entries- פַּנְדֶּמְיָה noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Hindi
1 entries- महामारी noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Hungarian
2 entries- pandémia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- világjárvány noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Icelandic
1 entries- heimsfaraldur noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Indonesian
1 entries- pandemi noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Irish
1 entries- paindéim noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Italian
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Japanese
1 entries- パンデミック noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Kazakh
2 entries- пандемия noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- індет noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Khmer
1 entries- ជំងឺរាតត្បាត noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Korean
2 entries- 범유행 noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- 팬데믹 noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- пандемия noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Ladino
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Latvian
1 entries- pandēmija noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Lithuanian
1 entries- pandemija noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Macedonian
1 entries- панде́мија noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Malay
1 entries- pandemik noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Maltese
1 entries- pandemija noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- pandemi noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- pandemi noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Occitan
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Persian
4 entries- دنیاگیری noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- همهگیر noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- همهگیری جهانی noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- پاندمی noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Polish
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Portuguese
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Romanian
1 entries- pandemie noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Russian
1 entries- пандеми́я noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- pandèmija noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- пандѐмија noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Sicilian
1 entries- pannimìa noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Slovak
1 entries- pandémia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Slovene
1 entries- pandemija noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Spanish
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Swahili
1 entries- pandemia noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Swedish
1 entries- pandemi noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Tagalog
1 entries- pandemya noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Tajik
1 entries- пандемия noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Tamil
1 entries- பெருந்தொற்று noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Tatar
1 entries- пандемия noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Thai
1 entries- โรคระบาดทั่ว noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Turkish
1 entries- pandemi noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Turkmen
1 entries- pandemiýa noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Ukrainian
2 entries- панде́мія noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- пандемі́я noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Urdu
2 entries- عالمگیر وبا noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
- عالمی وبا noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Uzbek
1 entries- pandemiya noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Vietnamese
1 entries- đại dịch noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Yiddish
1 entries- פּאַנדעמיע noun (disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population)
Sample sentences
32 total sentences available.
Tom is afraid of the pandemic.
Source: tatoeba (8556421)
The World Health Organization says the coronavirus outbreak does not yet fit the criterion for a pandemic — but warns a pandemic is possible and nations should prepare.
Source: tatoeba (8575664)
European officials say they fear the spread could quickly develop into a pandemic.
Source: tatoeba (8577824)
Showing 4 of 32 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "pandemic"?
Closest matches include all encompassing, ambulatory plague, average, besetting, black death.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "pandemic"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.