chronic

American  

[kron-ik] / ˈkrɒn ɪk /

Rarely chronical

adjective

1. constant; habitual; inveterate.

   a chronic liar.

   Synonyms:

   hardened, confirmed

2. continuing a long time or recurring frequently.

   a chronic state of civil war.

3. having long had a disease, habit, weakness, or the like.

   a chronic invalid.

4. (of a disease) having long duration (opposed to acute).

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noun

1. Slang. cronic.

chronic British  

/ krɒˈnɪsɪtɪ, ˈkrɒnɪk /

adjective

1. continuing for a long time; constantly recurring

2. (of a disease) developing slowly, or of long duration Compare acute

3. inveterate; habitual

   a chronic smoker

4. informal

   1. very bad

      the play was chronic

   2. very serious

      he left her in a chronic condition

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chronic Scientific  

/ krŏn′ĭk /

1. Relating to an illness or medical condition that is characterized by long duration or frequent recurrence. Diabetes and hypertension are chronic diseases.

2. Compare acute

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Other Word Forms

• chronically adverb
• chronicity noun
• nonchronic adjective
• nonchronical adjective
• subchronic adjective
• subchronical adjective
• unchronic adjective

Etymology

Origin of chronic

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin chronicus, from Greek chronikós, equivalent to chrón(os) “time” + -ikos -ic

Explanation

If you smoke a cigarette once, you've simply made a bad choice. But if you're a chronic smoker, you've been smoking for a long time and will have a hard time stopping. The word chronic is used to describe things that occur over a long period of time and, in fact, comes from the Greek word for time, khronos. If you have chronic asthma, it is a recurring health issue for you. No one likes a chronic liar! A problem that cannot be solved can also be called chronic - think of the chronic food shortages in certain parts of the world.

Example Sentences

This would effectively mean more payments are going to acute conditions and less to chronic ones.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Several factors appear to drive this decline, including accumulated cellular damage, changes in gene activity, chronic low-level inflammation, and shifts in the bone marrow environment.

From Science Daily • Apr. 16, 2026

Those are the latest findings in a broader set of four recently published papers that contend that homelessness should be understood as more than just a chronic housing problem.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Chris Baker has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and said it had "been exacerbated by the contaminants in the air".

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

In the next five years, Jim calculated, they’d have to treat about two thousand chronic MDR patients and cure at least 80 percent.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• constant
• continual
• continuing
• continuous
• deep-rooted
• deep-seated
• habitual
• incurable
• lifelong
• lingering
• persistent
• protracted
• recurrent
• recurring
• sustained