relating to or according to or affecting a symptom or symptoms; "symptomatic relief"; "symptomatic treatment"; "a symptomatic classification of diseases"
characteristic or indicative of e g a disease; "a diagnostic sign of yellow fever"; "diagnostic information"; "a rash symptomatic of scarlet fever"; "symptomatic of insanity"; "a rise in crime symptomatic of social breakdown"
If something is symptomatic of something else, especially something bad, it is a sign of it. The city's problems are symptomatic of the crisis that is spreading throughout the country