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View synonyms for cretinism

cretinism

[ kreet-n-iz-uhmor, especially British, kret- ]

noun

, Pathology.
  1. (no longer in technical use) a congenital disease due to absence or deficiency of normal thyroid secretion, characterized by physical deformity, dwarfism, and intellectual disability, and often by goiter: This condition is now diagnosed as congenital hypothyroidism or congenital iodine deficiency.


cretinism

/ ˈkrɛtɪˌnɪzəm /

noun

  1. old-fashioned.
    a condition arising from a deficiency of thyroid hormone, present from birth, characterized by dwarfism and mental retardation See 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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of cretinism1

First recorded in 1795–1800; from French crétinisme; cretin, -ism
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Example Sentences

Certainly, and you can think yourself happy, until gradually a contented cretinism steals over you, body and mind.

Such children, in their mental hebetude and physical degeneracy, suggest a degree of cretinism.

The Swiss have similar feelings as to those of their families whom cretinism has reduced to idiocy.

Not being aware of this act of cretinism, she went at him on the marriage business with a hopeful spirit.

The peculiar disease called cretinism, as well as goitre, has been attributed to a predominance of certain chemicals in the soil.

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