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 early prediabetes and mild hypertension, those habits can rival a prescription.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
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
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, affects more than 1.28 billion adults around the world.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
In that case, Judge Keith Ellison defined “heat-sensitive” broadly, covering people taking antipsychotic, anticholinergic, or diuretic drugs, along with anyone diagnosed with psychiatric conditions, obesity, diabetes, or hypertension, among other things.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 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.
