adjective
-
of, relating to, or having diabetes
-
for the use of diabetics
diabetic chocolate
noun
Usage
Rather than talking about a diabetic or diabetics , it is better to talk about a person with diabetes , people with diabetes
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of diabetic
First recorded in 1790–1800; diabet(es) + -ic
Explanation
If you're a diabetic, you are a person who suffers from the disease of diabetes. Diabetics tend to have wildly varying blood sugar levels, which can sometimes be dangerous. A diabetic's pancreas typically doesn't produce enough insulin, the hormone in your body that metabolizes sugars and carbohydrates. The word diabetic is also an adjective that describes someone who has the illness or something associated with it. Your diabetic friend might need to monitor her blood sugar several times a day and follow a special diabetic diet. The word comes from the Greek, in which it means "excessive discharge of urine," one of the illness's symptoms.
Vocabulary lists containing diabetic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The researchers then implanted the system in diabetic mice.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
In diabetic wounds, both the number and function of these cells can decline, and this reduction is associated with slower healing.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
If someone has diabetes, they should be getting a routine diabetic eye exam regardless.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
At the same time, in the same treatment room, another nurse was arranging insulin mixed with saline in a 50ml syringe for the diabetic patient.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
The feeling was a thirst, a thirst borne of time, of memory, of blood; an almost diabetic thirst that afflicted him whenever he passed a long period of time without flying.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
The combination of a good proportion of diabetics getting back to normalized glucose levels and achieving sustained weight loss with enicepatide give the drug a competitive profile, Schneider says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
She thinks that everyone should wear a glucose monitor, a tool that is very useful for diabetics but doesn’t really do anything for the rest of us.
From Slate ● May 10, 2025
I believe it is important for diabetics to have access to whatever treatment options they need to not just manage their condition, but thrive.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2024
All that extra sugar can make cranberry dishes hard to consume for Type 1 diabetics, because the sugars cause a rapid rise in blood glucose.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
My father has nothing against diabetics, or cows either.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
