freshers' flu

noun

A cold or similar illness contracted by new students at a university, caused by gathering people (and the diseases they carry) from a wide variety of places in a confined area, allowing the diseases to spread to those without immunity.

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Meanings

nounfreshers' flu (uncountable)
  1. UKinformaluncountableA cold or similar illness contracted by new students at a university, caused by gathering people (and the diseases they carry) from a wide variety of places in a confined area, allowing the diseases to spread to those without immunity.

Origin

From fresher (“a new student”) and flu (“disease”), an abbreviation of influenza.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

freshers' flu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freshers'%20flu

MLA

“freshers' flu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freshers'%20flu. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “freshers' flu,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freshers'%20flu.

Source: freshers' flu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.