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
“I’m an anxious, asthmatic, ADHD, gay, diabetic Jew,” he shrieks, repeating the list so that the audience can register the gravity of the situation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024
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
It created a cacophony of hacking coughs, bronchial rattles, asthmatic wheezes, consumptive croaks.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
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.
