symptomatic
/ˌsɪmp.təˈmæt.ɪk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.09 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Constituting a symptom or indication; characteristic, indicative.
adj
Of a treatment, that only affects the symptoms of a disease without targeting the underlying cause.
adj
Relating to symptomatics.
noun
A person exhibiting the symptoms of an illness.
Example Sentences
- "It is important to observe symptomatic cats out of the carrier, on the floor in a safe, escape-proof room. Swelling, heat, and pain in one or more joints can explain many signs, including lameness, malaise, and fever."
- "The city's problems are symptomatic of the crisis that is spreading throughout the country."
- "Symptomatic of a shallow understanding and an unamiable temper."
- "And it is symptomatic of the many paradoxes of Lederer's life that of all the people in the room, Brotherhood is the one whom he would most wish to serve, if ever he had the opportunity, even though — or perhaps because — his occasional efforts to ingratiate himself with his adopted hero have met with iron rebuff."
Etymology
Borrowed from French symptomatique, from New Latin symptomaticus, from Ancient Greek συμπτωματικός (sumptōmatikós, “of or pertaining to a chance (or a symptom), casual”), from σύμπτωμα (súmptōma, “a symptom”). By surface analysis, symptom + -atic.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: symptomaticus, συμπτωματικός
Inflected Forms
more symptomatic (comparative)
most symptomatic (superlative)
symptomatick (alternative, obsolete)
symptomatics (plural)