chronic
/ˈkɹɑ.nɪk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.20 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Being problematic over an extended period of time.
adj
Of a person, suffering from an affliction that is prolonged or slow to heal.
adj
Inveterate or habitual.
Example Sentences
- "chronic unemployment; chronic poverty; chronic anger; chronic life"
- "Peer group support is important to displaced homemakers. The Displaced Homemakers' Network has done excellent work in helping women see that their problems do not have to be chronic."
- "These concerns were shared by other SNP women who told the Guardian there was a chronic lack of support from the party, including for those with younger families."
- "Community Board 2 has chronic sanitation issues that clog busy streets and create real quality-of-life problems for residents, workers and visitors."
- "chronic cough; chronic headache; chronic illness"
- "So dreadful was the concentration of his glare that it seemed as if it must become chronic and stay like that for ever."
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.
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
- Root: cronike, chronicus, χρονικός
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɹɑ.nɪk/
- British English: /ˈkɹɒn.ɪk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more chronic (comparative)
most chronic (superlative)
chronick (alternative, obsolete)
chronics (plural)