asthmatic
Americanadjective
noun
Usage
Rather than talking about an asthmatic or asthmatics , it is better to talk about a person with asthma , people with asthma
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of asthmatic
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin asthmaticus, from Greek asthmatikós, equivalent to asthmat- (stem of ásthma ) asthma + -ikos -ic
Explanation
An asthmatic is someone who has asthma. Asthmatic can also describe a whistling, wheezy sound or voice. Even if you don’t have asthma, don’t try to sneak up on people if your breathing is asthmatic because they’ll hear you coming! Asthma is a respiratory condition that causes breathing problems. An asthmatic is someone with asthma, but the word is also used to describe things related to asthma. An inhaler — which helps an asthmatic breathe — could be called asthmatic medicine. An asthmatic attack is a severe lack of breath. You can also say someone sounds asthmatic if they have a breathy, wheezing voice. Anyone who is out of breath sounds a little asthmatic.
Vocabulary lists containing asthmatic
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.
She was also a severe asthmatic, always followed by a "frightened minion carrying her asthma inhaler, as though it were a crown, or a sceptre of some sort".
From BBC • Sep. 4, 2025
An asthmatic boy without an inhaler was wheezing in the acrid smoke from brush and trash fires, which had been lit for warmth.
From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2024
He's also asthmatic, which is true, and to a degree that prevents him from moving fast enough to intercept Booth as his officers close in.
From Salon • Mar. 15, 2024
The nerve hyperreactivity could explain why children who get RSV are later more likely to have asthmatic symptoms, Piedimonte said.
From Science Daily • Jan. 9, 2024
If he hadn’t sent her away, she would have gone with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Lorraine, and for all he knew, she never would have become asthmatic.
From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
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.
