asthenic
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or characterized by asthenia; weak.
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(of a physical type) having a slight build or slender body structure.
noun
adjective
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of, relating to, or having asthenia; weak
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(in constitutional psychology) referring to a physique characterized by long limbs and a small trunk: claimed to be associated with a schizoid personality See also somatotype
noun
Etymology
Origin of asthenic
1780–90; < Greek asthenikós, equivalent to asthen- ( see asthenia) + -ikos -ic
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.
In a sense, this fear of drama comes off as latter generations’ asthenic corrective to the unrestrained classical cinephilic embrace of robust Hollywood-centric energies.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 2, 2016
The asthenic Met batters, none of whom finished the regular season above .300, banged out a hearty 23 runs.
From Time Magazine Archive
Whimsy is asthenic fantasy, a fragile, elusive quality difficult to render but easy to shatter into sentimentality.
From Time Magazine Archive
Clustered mainly in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, off-Broadway's theaters exert the faintly exotic double lure of intellectual climbing and Bohemian slumming among asthenic men with beards and girls with Lady Godiva hairdos.
From Time Magazine Archive
This state of asthenic diathesis is called indirect debility, because it is not produced by directly subtracting the powers which support life, but indirectly, by over stimulating.
From Popular Lectures on Zoonomia Or The Laws of Animal Life, in Health and Disease by Garnett, Thomas
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.
