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cachexia

American  
[kuh-kek-see-uh] / kəˈkɛk si ə /
Also cachexy

noun

Pathology.

  1. general ill health with emaciation, usually occurring in association with cancer or a chronic infectious disease.

cachexia British  
/ kəˈkɛksɪə, kəˈkɛksɪ, kəˈkɛktɪk /

noun

  1. a generally weakened condition of body or mind resulting from any debilitating chronic disease

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
cachexia Scientific  
/ kə-kĕk′sē-ə /

  1. Severe weight loss, anorexia, and general debility that occur as a result of chronic disease. Cachetic patients exhibit signs of malnutrition, including muscle wasting.

Other Word Forms

  • cachectic adjective
  • cachectical adjective
  • cachexic adjective

Etymology

Origin of cachexia

1535–45; < Late Latin < Greek, equivalent to kak ( ós ) bad + héx ( is ) condition ( hek-, variant stem of échein to have + -sis -sis ) + -ia -ia

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.

"This discovery could have implications for cancer patients who experience cachexia, or muscle wasting due to the disease and its treatments."

From Science Daily • May 21, 2024

Xiao’s team also measured lactate levels in human lung cancer patients with and without cachexia.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 2, 2024

Several years earlier, other international forensics experts had already rejected the official cause of death as cachexia, or weakness and wasting of the body due to chronic illness — in his case, cancer.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 20, 2024

It found inmates were "significantly malnourished" and dealing with a condition called cachexia, also known as wasting syndrome.

From BBC • Aug. 15, 2023

Fits of ague often occur very shortly after exposure in infected localities, and the persons thus suddenly attacked may present little or no evidence of cachexia before or after the paroxysm.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

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.