chronically

[kron-ik-lee]

adverb

1. happening constantly or habitually.

   Nationally, millions of students are chronically absent every year.

2. happening or recurring over an extended period of time (opposed toacutely ).

   Monitoring is especially helpful for chronically ill patients wishing to avoid costly hospital stays.

   Close to 900 million people worldwide are chronically undernourished.

Other Word Forms

• nonchronically adverb
• subchronically adverb
• unchronically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of chronically¹

chronic ( def. ) + -ally ( def. )

Example Sentences

Other California data released Thursday provided cause for concern, including the percentage of students chronically absent, which tallies how many students miss at least 10% of school.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"For me this is particularly frustrating, as I'm chronically ill and selling on Vinted has been paramount for me since losing part of my income," she said.

Read more on BBC

Insurers are piling into Special Needs Plans, which serve chronically ill, frail or dual-eligible patients who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Major infrastructure projects are chronically late, bust their budgets, and are poorly maintained and operated by the bureaucracies that spawned.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For those not chronically online, however, this past week’s tempest over Wikipedia can be jolting—especially given the site’s objective to remain trustworthy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal