noun · 2 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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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈsmɔːlpɒks/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈsmɔlpɑks/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:S M AO1 L P AA2 K S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An acute, highly infectious often fatal disease caused by Variola virus of the family Poxviridae. It was completely eradicated in the 1970s, but still exists in laboratories. Those who survived were left with pockmarks.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences
Examples
The Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox, measles, dysentery, influenza, syphilis and leprosy.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: variola
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
a highly contagious viral disease characterized by fever and weakness and skin eruption with pustules that form scabs that slough off leaving scars
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: variola, variola major
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: pox
Narrower terms: alastrim, variola minor, pseudosmallpox, pseudovariola, milk pox, white pox, West Indian smallpox, Cuban itch, Kaffir pox
History
Etymology
From small + pox, in contrast to greatpox (“syphilis”).
Across languages
Translations
169 source translations are retained for this English entry.
