consumptive

[ kuhn-suhmp-tiv ]

/ kənˈsʌmp tɪv /

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See synonyms for: consumptive / consumptives on Thesaurus.com

adjective

tending to consume; destructive; wasteful.

relating to consumption by use.

Pathology.

relating to or of the nature of consumption.
disposed to or affected with consumption.

noun

Older Use. a person with tuberculosis.

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Origin of consumptive

First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English adjective and noun consumptif “eliminating or reducing morbid humors or tissue; an agent that eliminates or reduces morbid humors or tissue,” from Medieval Latin consūmptīvum, noun use of adjective consūmptīvus “wasteful, destructive; suffering from pulmonary consumption”; see origin at consumption, -ive

OTHER WORDS FROM consumptive

con·sump·tive·ly, adverbcon·sump·tive·ness, nounnon·con·sump·tive, adjectivenon·con·sump·tive·ly, adverb

non·con·sump·tive·ness, nounun·con·sump·tive, adjectiveun·con·sump·tive·ly, adverb

Words nearby consumptive

consumption, consumption coagulopathy, consumption goods, consumption tax, consumption weed, consumptive, cont., contact, contactable, contact allergy, contactant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use consumptive in a sentence

The middle class became more conspicuously consumptive than ever before.
Farewell to Manmohan Singh, India’s Puppet Prime Minister|Kapil Komireddi|January 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Watching it in public, on the other hand, exposes these films as just another method of molding of our consumptive urges.
The New Fashion Porn|Renata Espinosa|December 18, 2008|DAILY BEAST
The owner—the Consumptive, I call him, as his night work has damaged his lungs—grew very friendly one day, and confidential.
The Chequers|James Runciman
The Consumptive is, as I have said, a man of great resource; but he has for once been within a hair's breadth of disaster.
The Chequers|James Runciman

The consumptive bends over his work, fearfully eyeing the keeper's measuring stick.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
Hippocrates pointed out as one of the symptoms of consumption the spes phthisical or consumptive hope.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine|Austin Malley
It was made up of a consumptive wife, a young husband and one or two children.
Marriage la mode|Mrs. Humphry Ward

British Dictionary definitions for consumptive

consumptive

/ (kənˈsʌmptɪv) /

adjective

causing consumption; wasteful; destructive

pathol relating to or affected with consumption, esp tuberculosis of the lungs

noun

pathol a person who suffers from consumption

Derived forms of consumptive

consumptively, adverbconsumptiveness, 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

Medical definitions for consumptive

consumptive

[ kən-sŭmp′tĭv ]

adj.

Of, relating to, or afflicted with consumption.

consumptive

Origin of consumptive

OTHER WORDS FROM consumptive

Words nearby consumptive

Words related to consumptive

How to use consumptive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for consumptive

Derived forms of consumptive

Medical definitions for consumptive