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.
Consumer activity is anemic while debt defaults are skyrocketing.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
And nothing made that clearer than the anemic display from its “MAHA Monday.”
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
Jordan said in an interview that he intended to closely focus on Domino’s operations as the pizza sector slogs through years of anemic growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
A lot of the problems stem from the Covid-19 pandemic, where the rapid expansion of government spending to protect the economy, coupled with an anemic federal infrastructure to manage it, opened the door to fraudsters.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
I always saved a little liver for Sam, so he wouldn’t get anemic too.
From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata
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.
