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
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 transmitted through soil wreak havoc in developing countries in the tropics.
From Science Daily • May 8, 2024
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 protists are responsible for some of the world’s most deadly diseases, including several kinds of debilitating intestinal diseases, African sleeping sickness, and malaria.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018
Parasitic insects also take a heavy toll from these caterpillars.
From Butterflies Worth Knowing by Weed, Clarence M.
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.
