adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of anemic
Explanation
Sometimes you can tell just from looking at someone's pale face and lips that they're anemic. If you're anemic, your body has a shortage of healthy red blood cells. Often when someone's diagnosed as being anemic, they're counseled to eat more foods that contain iron, which can help rebuild the red blood cells in their body. Besides looking pale, an anemic person is often tired and weak. Another, non-medical, meaning of anemic is simply "lacking in vitality or energy." Both meanings come originally from the Greek anaimia, "lack of blood." The British spelling of anemic is anaemic.
Vocabulary lists containing anemic
The House on Mango Street
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Death of a Salesman
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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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.
Through three weeks, the Patriots offense has been utterly anemic while Maye has played nothing like the league’s former breakout star.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The second-quarter performance showed a drop in profit and anemic revenue growth as Shein continued to struggle with tariff headwinds and mounting logistics costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Due to anemic production activity, soundstages across L.A. have struggled to fill their studio spaces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
The report also highlighted anemic wage growth, which he said goes against the notion that the labor market is tightening.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
I’m no Spartan and hold up an anemic wrist to prove it.
From "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
