hypertension
Americannoun
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Pathology.
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elevation of the blood pressure, especially the diastolic pressure.
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an arterial disease characterized by this condition.
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excessive or extreme emotional tenseness.
noun
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Abnormally high blood pressure, especially in the arteries. High blood pressure increases the risk for heart attack and stroke.
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Also called high blood pressure
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hypertension
Explanation
If you've got hypertension, you've got high blood pressure, and you're likely to be on medication to bring it down to a safe level. Hyper- is a prefix that means "over" or "beyond" — if you're hyper you're wildly energetic. Tension means "stretching" or "straining." Hypertension, therefore, means "straining beyond." With hypertension, your blood pressure is abnormally high, causing a strain on your blood vessels. This condition can result in serious health problems, such as heart attack and stroke.
Vocabulary lists containing hypertension
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The Crossover
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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.
For ICE, medical conditions that had the highest number of claims included screenings for tuberculosis and other diseases and treatment for hypertension, chest pain and type 2 diabetes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Other new product launches also contributed to the growth, including pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment Winrevair, which brought in $588 million in sales, up 75% from a year ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The WHO said better management of conditions like hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol could also help reduce dementia risk.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Cardiovascular conditions such as high cholesterol and hypertension frequently clustered together, while behaviors like smoking and drinking also tended to occur as groups.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
According to reports, Bell suffered from hypertension and had three fainting spells in the four months before his collapse.
From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander
Definitions 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.
