What medical term means "without symptoms"?

The medical term for a condition that exists without symptoms is asymptomatic. A person may have a disease, infection, or other diagnosed condition while experiencing no noticeable symptoms.

“Asymptomatic” does not necessarily mean that nothing is happening in the body. A condition can sometimes be discovered through a screening test, imaging, laboratory result, or an incidental finding made while investigating another problem. Some asymptomatic infections can also still be transmitted to other people.

The term is different from “presymptomatic.” Someone who is presymptomatic has not developed symptoms yet but may develop them later. By contrast, an asymptomatic person does not develop noticeable symptoms during the relevant period. “Subclinical” is a related term often used when a condition produces few or no obvious clinical signs.

Examples can include certain cases of cytomegalovirus infection, high blood pressure, or early disease found during routine screening. The absence of symptoms does not automatically prove that a condition is harmless or that medical follow-up is unnecessary.