cretinism

[kreet-n-iz-uh m or, esp. British, kret-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cretinism ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Pathology.

a congenital disease due to absence or deficiency of normal thyroid secretion, characterized by physical deformity, dwarfism, and mental retardation, and often by goiter.

Origin of cretinism

From the French word crétinisme, dating back to 1795–1805. See cretin, -ism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cretinism

madness, lunacy, insanity, fatuity, imbecility, foolishness, derangement, inanity, tomfoolery, senselessness, insipidity, asininity

Examples from the Web for cretinism

Historical Examples of cretinism

Cretinism is a condition due to disease of the thyroid glands.
Being Well-Born
Michael F. Guyer
The causation of the sporadic form of cretinism is, however, obscure.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6
Various
Cretinism in any form had always shocked Dwight Wade inexpressibly.
King Spruce, A Novel
Holman Day
Only one case is reported in which goitre was associated with cretinism.
Degeneracy
Eugene S. Talbot
So cretinism was in a fair way to spread all over the valley from this spot.
The Country Doctor
Honore de Balzac

British Dictionary definitions for cretinism

cretinism

noun

old-fashioned a condition arising from a deficiency of thyroid hormone, present from birth, characterized by dwarfism and mental retardationSee also myxoedema

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

cretinism in Medicine

cretinism

[krēt′n-ĭz′əm]

n.

A congenital condition due to thyroid hormone deficiency during fetal development and marked in childhood by dwarfed stature, mental retardation, dystrophy of the bones, and a low basal metabolism.congenital myxedema cretinoid dysplasia