chronic

CEFRC1

/ˈkɹɒn.ɪk/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
adjective
Continuing for a long time or happening repeatedly.
02
adjective
Extra detail
Of a person, suffering from an affliction that is prolonged or slow to heal.

Examples

There is a chronic oversupply of rice in Japan.
I have a chronic pain here.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

Prolonged or slow to heal.
Of a problem, that continues over an extended period of time.
Inveterate or habitual.

More examples

In context

Chronic patients must learn to live with their condition.
chronic unemployment; chronic poverty; chronic anger; chronic life
My conjunctivitis is chronic.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Her blank cough lasted for months and required a chest X-ray to diagnose.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

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.
1980, Ruth Harriet Jacobs, Integrating Displaced Homemakers into the Economy, page 14
It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
Chronic mismanagement in the dugout and in the boardroom has meant the scale of the job now is as big as it has ever been.
2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 13 Apr 2021
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.
2025 March 23, Libby Brooks and Severin Carrell, “‘Hostile environment’ drives many of SNP’s female MSPs to step down before 2026 vote”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 28 Mar 2025
So dreadful was the concentration of his glare that it seemed as if it must become chronic and stay like that for ever.
1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 117

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Origin

adjective

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.

Deep Dive

adjective

More examples

Related

Quick test

Her blank— cough lasted for months and required a chest X-ray to diagnose.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

Her blank cough lasted for months and required a chest X-ray to diagnose.