pathological
Americanadjective
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of or relating to pathology, or the science or study of diseases and their causes.
Research into the pathological origins of alcoholism is ongoing.
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caused by, indicative of, or involving disease.
Her white blood cell count had fallen to a pathological level.
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caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition.
He is a pathological hoarder.
They show a pathological lack of concern for the suffering of others.
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dealing with diseases.
The neurologist kept a pathological casebook from her practice as a source of examples for lectures.
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Mathematics. designating a phenomenon or object, such as a function, that is logically and correctly defined but has counterintuitive or paradoxical properties.
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Computers. relating to or producing a failed outcome or one that is contrary to what was intended or expected.
This is just an example of what happens when the algorithm encounters pathological data.
A pathological input shouldn't break the algorithm.
adjective
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of or relating to pathology
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relating to, involving, or caused by disease
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informal compulsively motivated
a pathological liar
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pathological
First recorded in 1680–90; from Greek pathologik(ós) ( see pathology, -ic) + -al 1
Explanation
If something is caused by a physical or mental disease, it is pathological. Someone with a pathological compulsion for cleanliness might scrub the floors for hours every night. Pathological comes from a Greek word, pathologikos, which means “treating of diseases” — pathos means "suffering." Anyone who studies or works with diseases, from their causes to their symptoms, identifies how the disease affects its victims, in other words, its pathological effects. Remember that this is a medical distinction. If a person has, for example, obsessive-compulsive disorder, his or her repetitive actions are pathological.
Vocabulary lists containing pathological
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Common Senses: Path ("Feeling")
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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.
"Pathological tau is the main player for both brain aging and neurodegenerative disease," Tangavelou said.
From Science Daily • Jan. 16, 2026
It is also, as author and activist Sarah Fay writes in her new book "Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses," a deeply flawed tool.
From Salon • Mar. 23, 2022
Pathological liars know they are lying, and know you know they are lying, but they lie anyway.
From New York Times • Nov. 7, 2017
Pathological language around racism is also increasing, Gilman and Thomas write, in “scholarly articles, treatment protocols, academic conference presentations, and ‘shoptalk’ among behavioral and social scientists.”
From Slate • Nov. 17, 2016
Pathological micro-organisms have very complicated products which are in large part poisonous.
From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by ?Malley, Austin
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.
