Colloquial Variant guide

yellow fever

noun · 4 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 acute febrile illness of tropical regions, caused by a flavivirus (Yellow fever virus) and spread by certain mosquitoes, characterised by jaundice, black vomit and the absence of urination.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: black vomit, yellow jack, Bulam fever

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: mosquito-borne disease

2

noun

Meaning 2

An attraction to ethnically East Asian men or women, expressed by non-East Asian (especially white European male or white American) people.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, slang, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Asian fever

Antonyms: none provided

Narrower terms: Japanese fever

3

noun

Meaning 3

A lust for gold; an obsession with seeking gold ore.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, figuratively, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gold fever

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

caused by a flavivirus transmitted by a mosquito

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: yellow jack, black vomit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: infectious disease

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: حَمَّى صَفْرَاء (ḥammā ṣafrāʔ) — illness
  • Breton: terzhienn-velen — illness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黃熱病 /黄热病 (huángrèbìng) — illness
  • Danish: gul feber — illness
  • Dutch: gele koorts — illness
  • Esperanto: flava febro — illness
  • Finnish: keltakuume — illness
  • French: fièvre jaune — illness
  • Georgian: ყვითელი ციებ-ცხელება (q̇viteli cieb-cxeleba) — illness
  • Georgian: ყვითელი ცხელება (q̇viteli cxeleba) — illness
  • German: Gelbfieber — illness
  • Hungarian: sárgaláz — illness
  • Indonesian: demam kuning — illness
  • Irish: fiabhras buí — illness
  • Japanese: 黄熱 (ōnetsu) — illness
  • Korean: 황열 (hwang'yeol) — illness
  • Malay: demam kuning — illness
  • Polish: żółta febra — illness
  • Portuguese: febre amarela — illness
  • Romanian: friguri galbene — illness
  • Russian: жёлтая лихора́дка (žóltaja lixorádka) — illness
  • Russian: амарилле́з (amarilléz) — illness
  • Scottish Gaelic: fiabhras-buidhe — illness
  • Spanish: fiebre amarilla — illness
  • Swahili: homa ya manjano — illness
  • Swedish: gul feber — illness
  • Swedish: gula febern — illness
  • Thai: ไข้เหลือง (kâi-lʉ̌ʉang) — illness
  • Turkish: sarıhumma — illness
  • Ukrainian: жо́вта гаря́чка (žóvta harjáčka) — illness
  • Vietnamese: sốt vàng — illness
  • Vietnamese: sốt vàng da — illness
  • Yoruba: ibà pọ́njú-pọ́ntọ̀ — illness
  • Yucatec Maya: xekik — illness