functioning

[ fuhngk-shuh-ning ]

/ ˈfʌŋk ʃə nɪŋ /

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adjective

performing a specified action or activity; working; operating: My son has only one functioning kidney.

(of a person with addiction or other illness or disability) able to cope with everyday life, as at home or at work: a functioning alcoholic with a successful career; functioning diabetics.See also high-functioning.

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of functioning

First recorded in 1835–40; in 1970–75 for def. 2; function (in the sense “to perform an action”) + -ing²

Words nearby functioning

functional shift, functional splint, functional water, functionary, function creep, functioning, function key, function shift, function space, function word, functor

How to use functioning in a sentence

A confusing patchwork of last-minute orders imposed since October—somehow both too restrictive to allow regular functioning of the economy and not restrictive enough to effectively limit the virus’s spread—have failed to improve the situation.
A government crisis is poised to make Italy’s Covid-19 trouble even worse|Annalisa Merelli|January 26, 2021|Quartz
Such activities are essential to the functioning of a free democracy.
Tech and crypto funder Andreessen Horowitz wants to replace the media. Is that bad news?|Jeff Roberts|January 20, 2021|Fortune
In normal times, I would maintain that this is the healthy functioning of the market’s “invisible hand.”
Why the U.S. needs a national climate investment fund|matthewheimer|January 3, 2021|Fortune
Data from the advisory group suggests that vaccinating essential workers maximizes the overall functioning of society and promotes access to the vaccine for communities of color, which have been most affected by the pandemic.
Health-care workers and nursing home residents should be the first to get coronavirus vaccines, CDC advisory group says|Lena H. Sun, Isaac Stanley-Becker|December 3, 2020|Washington Post

She described herself as “high functioning” and said she was always in special education classes in elementary and high school.
People with Developmental Disabilities Were Promised Help. Instead, They Face Delays and Denials.|by Amy Silverman for Arizona Daily Star, with data analysis by Alex Devoid, Arizona Daily Star|November 5, 2020|ProPublica
Common sense is not a just a normative judgment about wisdom, but a structural feature of any functioning organization.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans|Philip K. Howard|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Most people could agree on whether a given configuration of materials is a functioning vehicle or a useless set of parts.
The Birth of the Novel|Nick Romeo|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is entirely possible for some of these mechanisms to be functioning while others have ceased.
What It’s Like to Wake Up Dead|Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Tej Azad|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There are conditions where the heart and many other organs are functioning relatively well, but the brain is very ill.
What It’s Like to Wake Up Dead|Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Tej Azad|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Thailand has had a lousy track record with functioning democracy for many decades.
‘The Hunger Games’ Stars Silent on Thai Protesters|Asawin Suebsaeng|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Once his one-track mind got to functioning on a certain objective it seldom digressed.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
The lungs, functioning there in another atmosphere, are different from our own.
Astronomy for Amateurs|Camille Flammarion
Thus the dreams show that unselective awakening of ideas which is to be expected from a general decrease of functioning.
Psychotherapy|Hugo Mnsterberg
She was wearing some kind of perfume, Burckhardt noted with what little of his mind was functioning at all.
The Tunnel Under The World|Frederik Pohl
His mental processes were gone beyond the point of disbelief and shock; they simply were not functioning.
The Tunnel Under The World|Frederik Pohl

functioning

Origin of functioning

Words nearby functioning

Words related to functioning

How to use functioning in a sentence