What does epidemic mean?
Word: Epidemic
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Epidemic means a disease that spreads quickly and affects a large number of people in one area at the same time; also a sudden rise in something unwelcome.
Synonyms: plague
How do you spell epidemic?
Syllables: ep - i - dem - ic
Tricky part: Both vowels around the d cause trouble: an i comes before it and an e after it, so epedemic and epidamic are wrong.
Watch out for: epedemic, epidamic, epedimic
Memory tip: The middle three letters of epidemic, ide, are the ending of wide and side.
Epidemic in a sentence
Example 1: The village health worker went from door to door during the dengue epidemic.
Example 2: Doctors warned that the flu could turn into an epidemic if people ignored the rules.
Example 3: Some teachers joke that there is an epidemic of missing homework after every holiday.
Fun Fact
An epidemic hits many people in one region; when a disease spreads across many countries it is called a pandemic, and one that is always present in a region, such as malaria in parts of the tropics, is called endemic.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word epidemic as used in the sentence:
Health officers were sent to the district to control the flu epidemic before the monsoon ended.
a) cure
b) check-up
c) vaccine
d) outbreak
Show answer
d) outbreak. An outbreak is the sudden start and spread of a disease, which is exactly what an epidemic is.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Schools in the town were shut for two weeks because chickenpox had reached meipcide levels.
a) academic
b) episodic
c) epidemic
d) endemic
Show answer
c) epidemic. Look for a p first: academic and endemic have none. Episodic does, but it also needs an o and an s, so the word is epidemic.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
eppidemic
a) d
b) m
c) p
d) i
Show answer
c) p. Epi is a Greek prefix spelt with one p, as in episode.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly and one is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. symptom 2. temprature 3. epidemic 4. hygiene
a) a measure of how hot or cold it is
b) a sign that a person may be ill
c) keeping your body and home clean
d) an illness sweeping through a region
Show answer
a) a measure of how hot or cold it is. Temprature has dropped a vowel after the p; hygiene, epidemic and symptom are correct as printed.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Doctors speak of an epidemic when an illness ____.
a) affects only a single patient
b) is cured by a single tablet
c) lasts for no more than a day
d) spreads to many people quickly
Show answer
d) spreads to many people quickly
2. A newspaper headline speaks of an epidemic of littering in the park. It means there has been ____.
a) a cleaning drive
b) a strict new rule
c) a sudden widespread rise
d) a single small mistake
Show answer
c) a sudden widespread rise
