Meanings
- uncountablemedicineAn 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.
The town up the road was overcome by yellow fever, he said. All travelers warned away.
2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 257Synonyms: black vomit, yellow jack, Bulam fever
- figurativelyslanguncountableAn attraction to ethnically East Asian men or women, expressed by non-East Asian (especially white European male or white American) people.
Your girl want me, we both know / Cause she got yellow fever
2015, “In This B*tch”, in WORLDWIDE, performed by Jay ParkSynonyms: Asian fever
- datedfigurativelyuncountableA lust for gold; an obsession with seeking gold ore.
He's got the yellow fever; Once get the sight of gold and you are poisoned.
1910, Giacomo Puccini, La Fanciulla Del West: The Girl of the Golden West3 more examples
An onze a day, two a day, or three—every one has the gold or yellow fever. Last night several of the most respectible American residents of this town arrived home from a visit to the gold regions.
1951, George Peter Hammond, The Larkin Papers, Univ of California PressBut the true yellow fever that has abounded in the lower gold-bearing valleys around Guanay can possibly illustrate in sickness what takes place in actuality among the sons of men who are seduced by the lust for gold.
1963, Robert Raine Geyer, Death Trails in Bolivia to Faith TriumphantIn the stories he wrote and published about the gold rush, Dickens does not resolve characters' feelings of class resentment so much as explain them in non-political terms […] Dickens spreads this strain of 'yellow fever' among his characters, making their labour unrest seem both understandable and pathological.
2000 October 10, W. Jacobson, Dickens and the Children of Empire, Springer, →ISBN, pages 68–69Synonyms: gold fever
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn 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.
nounAn attraction to ethnically East Asian men or women, expressed by non-East Asian (especially white European male or white American) people.
nounA lust for gold; an obsession with seeking gold ore.
More synonyms by meaning
nouncaused by a flavivirus transmitted by a mosquito
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic حَمَّى صَفْرَاء
- حَمَّى صَفْرَاء (ḥammā ṣafrāʔ)illness
Chinese Mandarin 黃熱病 /黄热病
- 黃熱病 /黄热病 (huángrèbìng)illness
Danish gul feber
- gul feberillness
Dutch gele koorts
- gele koortsillness
Esperanto flava febro
- flava febroillness
Finnish keltakuume
- keltakuumeillness
French fièvre jaune
- fièvre jauneillness
German Gelbfieber
- Gelbfieberillness
Hungarian sárgaláz
- sárgalázillness
Indonesian demam kuning
- demam kuningillness
Irish fiabhras buí
- fiabhras buíillness
Japanese 黄熱
- 黄熱 (ōnetsu)illness
Korean 황열
- 황열 (hwang'yeol)illness
Malay demam kuning
- demam kuningillness
Polish żółta febra
- żółta febraillness
Portuguese febre amarela
- febre amarelaillness
Romanian friguri galbene
- friguri galbeneillness
Russian жёлтая лихора́дка, амарилле́з
- жёлтая лихора́дка (žóltaja lixorádka)illness
- амарилле́з (amarilléz)illness
Scottish Gaelic fiabhras-buidhe
- fiabhras-buidheillness
Spanish fiebre amarilla
- fiebre amarillaillness
Swahili homa ya manjano
- homa ya manjanoillness
Swedish gul feber, gula febern
- gul feberillness
- gula febernillness
Thai ไข้เหลือง
- ไข้เหลือง (kâi-lʉ̌ʉang)illness
Turkish sarıhumma
- sarıhummaillness
Ukrainian жо́вта гаря́чка
- жо́вта гаря́чка (žóvta harjáčka)illness
Vietnamese sốt vàng, sốt vàng da
- sốt vàngillness
- sốt vàng daillness
Cite this entry
yellow fever. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20fever
“yellow fever.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20fever. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yellow fever,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yellow%20fever.
Source: yellow fever on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.