Cancerous Meaning
/ˈkænsəɹəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjRelating to or affected with cancer.
adjGrowing or spreading rapidly to the point of harm.
Sentence Examples
The results of Tom's biopsy show that the tumor is cancerous.
The histologic assay showed that the sample contained cancerous cells.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The biopsy revealed that the tumor was ____ and required immediate surgery.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The doctor confirmed that the small growth was not ____ at all city.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English cancerous, from Latin cancerōsus, from cancer (“crab; tumor, cancer”) + -ōsus (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, cancer + -ous.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"On Sunday at five they operated to remove the cancerous kidney."
— 2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 368:
"A pilot study conducted in 2023 by the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Erlangen University Hospital in Germany involved 104 patients and concluded that clinical breast examinations by MTEs who were visually impaired were as accurate in identifying potentially cancerous tumors as doctors trained in this procedure."
— 2024 September 8, Kamala Thiagarajan, “Women who are blind play a critical role in identifying possible breast cancers”, in NPR:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The biopsy revealed that the tumor was ____ and required immediate surgery.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The doctor confirmed that the small growth was not ____ at all city.