Dictionary.com
definitions

carious

[ kair-ee-uh s ]
/ ˈkɛər i əs /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR carious ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having caries, as teeth; decayed.

RELATED WORDS

disagreeable, putrid, tainted, musty, smelly, moldy, stale, fetid, soured, polluted, contaminated, addled, ruined, rank, wasted, spoiled, perished, decomposed, riddled, rotted

Nearby words

  1. cariogenic,
  2. cariogenicity,
  3. cariole,
  4. cariology,
  5. cariosity,
  6. carisbrooke castle,
  7. carisoprodol,
  8. caritas,
  9. caritative,
  10. caritive

Origin of carious

1520–30; < Latin cariōsus decayed, rotten, equivalent to cari(ēs) caries + -ōsus -ous
Related formscar·i·os·i·ty [kair-ee-os-i-tee] /ˌkɛər iˈɒs ɪ ti/, car·i·ous·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for carious

British Dictionary definitions for carious

carious

cariose (ˈkɛərɪˌəʊz)

/ (ˈkɛərɪəs) /

adjective

(of teeth or bone) affected with caries; decayed
Derived Formscariosity (ˌkærɪˈɒsɪtɪ, ˌkɛərɪ-) or cariousness, noun
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
Word Origin and History for carious

carious

adj.

1670s, from French carieux (16c.), from Latin cariosus "full of decay," from caries "rottenness, decay" (see caries).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for carious

carious

[ kâr′ē-əs ]

adj.

Having caries; decayed.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.