chronic
Being problematic over an extended period of time.
Adjective 4 meanings
Being problematic over an extended period of time.
“chronic unemployment; chronic poverty; chronic anger; chronic life”
Prolonged or slow to heal.
“chronic cough; chronic headache; chronic illness”
Of a person, suffering from an affliction that is prolonged or slow to heal.
“Chronic patients must learn to live with their condition.”
Inveterate or habitual.
“He's a chronic smoker.”
Noun 2 meanings
A condition of extended duration, either continuous or marked by frequent recurrence. Sometimes implies a condition which worsens with each recurrence, though that is not inherent in the term.
A person who is chronic, such as a criminal reoffender or a person with chronic disease.
Etymology
From chronical, from Old French cronike, from Latin chronicus, from Ancient Greek χρονικός (khronikós, “of time”), from χρόνος (khrónos, “time”). By surface analysis, chron- + -ic.
Similar and opposite words
CHRONIC at a glance
CHRONIC has 7 letters and scores 14 points in Scrabble (C 3 + H 4 + R 1 + O 1 + N 1 + I 1 + C 3) and 16 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #5,020 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with chronic
All rhymesOne letter away
- CHROMIC16
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