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

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

“Everybody is chronically depressed, this feeling of having absolutely no say so with what’s going on in your life.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She worries people are losing in-person connection as they're chronically online.

Read more on BBC

“I’m chronically unemployed, always broke, but let’s just say that I am obsessed with the truth.”

Read more on Salon