consumptive
Americanadjective
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tending to consume; destructive; wasteful.
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relating to consumption by use.
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Pathology.
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relating to or of the nature of consumption.
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disposed to or affected with consumption.
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noun
adjective
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causing consumption; wasteful; destructive
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pathol relating to or affected with consumption, esp tuberculosis of the lungs
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of consumptive
First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English adjective and noun consumptif “eliminating or reducing morbid humors or tissue; an agent that eliminates or reduces morbid humors or tissue,” from Medieval Latin consūmptīvum, noun use of adjective consūmptīvus “wasteful, destructive; suffering from pulmonary consumption”; see origin at consumption, -ive
Vocabulary lists containing consumptive
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.
Thus, in 1913, the Jewish Consumptive Relief Assn. founded and funded two tent-cottages on 10 sunny acres in Duarte as a free and nonsectarian sanitarium.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 30, 2022
Dr. Lewis Israel Miller, medical chairman of the large Jewish Consumptive Relief Society in Denver, predicted last week that the rate may go up.
From Time Magazine Archive
Consumptive son of an English parson, Cecil John Rhodes had come to South Africa for his health, carrying nothing but a Greek lexicon.
From Time Magazine Archive
Fifth: Haugh—a flash word, signifying Disease—embracing under it, imperfections, scars, marks, &c.—is described as follows: No. 1 signifies Consumptive.
From Secret Band of Brothers A Full and True Exposition of All the Various Crimes, Villanies, and Misdeeds of This Powerful Organization in the United States. by Green, Jonathan Harrington
Consumptive, no doubt; and concealed under such a deceptive appearance of brawn!
From Margaret Montfort by Barry, Etheldred B. (Etheldred Breeze)
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.
