Phrase guide

social distancing

noun · verb · 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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  • General-American: /ˈsoʊʃəl ˌdɪstən(t)sɪŋ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsəʊʃəl ˌdɪstən(t)sɪŋ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases by isolating those with such diseases in quarantines, maintaining space between individuals, and prohibiting certain activities.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: epidemiology, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

present participle and gerund of social distance

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

75 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: sosiale distansiëring — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Albanian: distancë shoqërore — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Assamese: শাৰীৰিক দূৰত্ব (xaririk durotto) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Azerbaijani: sosial məsafələşmə — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Basque: urruntze sozial — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Bengali: শারীরিক দূরত্ব (śaririk durotto) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Bulgarian: обществена дистанция (obštestvena distancija) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Bulgarian: социална дистанция (socialna distancija) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Catalan: distanciament social — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Catalan: distanciació social — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Chinese Cantonese: 保持社交距離 /保持社交距离 (bou2 ci4 se5 gaau1 keoi5 lei4) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Chinese Mandarin: 保持社交距離 /保持社交距离 (bǎochí shèjiāo jùlí) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Czech: sociální distancování — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Danish: social distancering — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Danish: fysisk distancering — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Danish: fysisk afstand — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Dutch: sociale onthouding — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Estonian: sotsiaalne distantseerumine — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Finnish: sosiaalinen etäännyttäminen — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • French: distanciation sociale — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • French: éloignement social — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • French: distanciation physique — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • French: éloignement physique — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Georgian: სოციალური დისტანცირება (socialuri disṭancireba) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • German: soziale Distanzierung — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • German: Social Distancing — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • German: räumliche Distanzierung — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • German: räumliche Trennung — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Greek: κοινωνική απομάκρυνση (koinonikí apomákrynsi) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Gujarati: શારીરિક દૂરી (śārīrik dūrī) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Hebrew: ריחוק חברתי (rikhúk khevratí) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Hindi: शारीरिक दूरी (śārīrik dūrī) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Hungarian: közösségi távolságtartás — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Hungarian: társasági távolságtartás — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Hungarian: társas távolságtartás — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Hungarian: szociális távolságtartás — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Icelandic: samskiptafjarlægð — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Indonesian: jaga jarak sosial — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Irish: scaradh sóisialta — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Italian: distanziamento sociale — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Japanese: ソーシャルディスタンス (sōsharudisutansu) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Japanese: 社会距離拡大戦略 (shakaikyorikakudaisenryaku) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Khmer: ការរក្សាចម្ងាយពីគ្នា (karrôksachmngéaypiknéa) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Korean: 사회적(社會的) 거리(距離)두기 (sahoejeok georidugi) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Northern Kurdish: dûrxistina civakî — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Macedonian: друштвено растојание (društveno rastojanie) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Malay: penjarakan sosial — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Malay: penjarakan fizikal — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Malayalam: സാമൂഹിക അകലം (sāmūhika akalaṁ) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Marathi: शारीरिक अंतर (śārīrik antar) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sosial distansering — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fysisk distansering — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fysisk avstand — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sosial distansering — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fysisk distansering — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fysisk avstand — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Persian: فاصلهگذاری اجتماعی (fâsele-gozâri-ye ejtemâ'i) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Polish: dystansowanie społeczne — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Portuguese: distanciamento social — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Punjabi: ਸਰੀਰਕ ਦੂਰੀ (sarīrak dūrī) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Romanian: distanțare socială — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Russian: социа́льное дистанци́рование (sociálʹnoje distancírovanije) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Scottish Gaelic: astrachadh sòisealta — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Spanish: distanciamiento social — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Swedish: social distansering — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Swedish: fysisk distansering — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Tamil: சமூக இடைவெளி (camūka iṭaiveḷi) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Thai: การเว้นระยะห่างทางสังคม — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Turkish: sosyal mesafe — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Vietnamese: sự cách ly xã hội — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Vietnamese: khoảng cách xã hội — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Vietnamese: sự giãn cách xã hội — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Vietnamese: sự cách ly vật lý — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Vietnamese: khoảng cách xã giao — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases
  • Yiddish: סאָציאַלע דיסטאַנצירונג (sotsyale distantsirung) — practice of maintaining physical distance between people to reduce the spread of communicable diseases