cancer

noun

(medicine, oncology, pathology) A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid) proliferation.

(figuratively) Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.

(astrology) The zodiac sign for the crab, ruled by the Moon and covering June 22–July 22 (tropical astrology) or July 16–August 15 (sidereal astrology).

Someone with a Cancer star sign.

(astronomy) A constellation of the zodiac supposedly shaped like a crab.

adjective

(slang) Extremely unpleasant and annoying.

Roots

cancercancer- · Latin · crab

Synonyms for cancer

carcinoman sarcoman tumorn neoplasmn

Synonyms & related words for cancer

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of cancer — including carcinoma, sarcoma, tumor, neoplasm. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to cancer

Explore words related to cancer — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include cancroid, cancerously, melanoma, lymphoma, cancerous, choriocarcinoma, leukemia, precancerous. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for cancer

Common synonyms for cancer include carcinoma, sarcoma, tumor, neoplasm — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does cancer come from?

The word cancer breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root cancer-, from Latin cancer (“crab”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.