cachexia

American  

[kuh-kek-see-uh] / kəˈkɛk si ə /

Also cachexy

noun

Pathology.

1. general ill health with emaciation, usually occurring in association with cancer or a chronic infectious disease.

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cachexia British  

/ kəˈkɛksɪə, kəˈkɛksɪ, kəˈkɛktɪk /

noun

1. a generally weakened condition of body or mind resulting from any debilitating chronic disease

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cachexia Scientific  

/ kə-kĕk′sē-ə /

1. Severe weight loss, anorexia, and general debility that occur as a result of chronic disease. Cachetic patients exhibit signs of malnutrition, including muscle wasting.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cachectical
  adjective
• cachexic
  adjective
• cachectic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of cachexia

1535–45; < Late Latin < Greek, equivalent to kak ( ós ) bad + héx ( is ) condition ( hek-, variant stem of échein to have + -sis -sis ) + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

The study was published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.

From Science Daily • May 15, 2026

Published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, the study offers rare long-term insight into how physical capacity changes over decades rather than snapshots at a single point in time.

From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2026

The Cachexia Africana, like other spanœmic states of the system, may run into Phthisis, or become complicated with it.

From Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartrwright on This Important Subject by Elliott, E. N.

Related Words

• affliction
• ailment
• disease
• malady
• sickness