parasitic
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of parasites.
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(of diseases) due to parasites.
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Phonetics. excrescent.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of parasitic
1620–30; < Latin parasīticus < Greek parasītikós. See parasite, -ic
Explanation
The adjective parasitic is mainly a scientific term for talking about an organism that lives on a host, taking what it needs to stay alive while often injuring the host. By their nature, ticks, leeches, and lice are all parasitic; they live off their hosts. You can also use the word parasitic more metaphorically, to describe a person who takes without giving anything in return. A thirty year-old man who lives with his mother, eating her food and not paying rent, could be described as parasitic, since he survives by sponging off another person. Parasitic comes from the Greek word parasitos, "eating at another's table."
Vocabulary lists containing parasitic
The Poet X
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Turtles All the Way Down
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The Suffix -ic, Part 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Parasitic twins form when one foetus partially develops while attached to the other.
From BBC • Feb. 26, 2025
Parasitic worms, specifically soil-transmitted helminths, are common and infect roughly 25% of the global human population, according to theWorld Health Organization.
From Science Daily • Feb. 26, 2024
Parasitic roundworms are ubiquitous in the animal kingdom.
From Scientific American • Jun. 18, 2023
Parasitic populations According to a groundbreaking new study that analyzed 85 parasitic species, the majority of them suffered population declines over 140 years.
From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2023
Parasitic Vermin.—These are lice, fleas, ticks, the scale insects, and other pests which afflict our live stock.
From American Woman's Home by Beecher, Catharine Esther
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
