Phrase guide

Havana syndrome

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

An illness of disputed cause, producing symptoms of vertigo, nausea, ear-popping, headaches, and traumatic brain injury, experienced by US ambassadors and agents abroad.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From the first encounter being reported in Havana, the capital of Cuba.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Cantonese: 夏灣拿綜合症 /夏湾拿综合症 — Translations
  • Chinese Mandarin: 哈瓦那綜合症 /哈瓦那综合症 — Translations
  • Chinese Mandarin: 哈瓦那症候群 — Translations
  • Finnish: Havannan syndrooma — Translations
  • French: syndrome de La Havane — Translations
  • German: Havanna-Syndrom — Translations
  • Russian: гава́нский синдро́м (gavánskij sindróm) — Translations
  • Spanish: síndrome de La Habana — Translations