metabolic

American  

[met-uh-bol-ik] / ˌmɛt əˈbɒl ɪk /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or affected by metabolism.

2. undergoing metamorphosis.

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Usage

What does metabolic mean? Metabolic describes something that is related to or is affected by metabolism, as in Dr. Petrov discovered the patient’s illness had metabolic causes. Your metabolism is the sum of the physical and chemical processes in your body needed to sustain life by producing energy. In humans, metabolism involves a large number of different organs and tissues. For this reason, the word metabolic is frequently used in medicine, nutrition, and other health sciences to discuss the digestive system, circulatory system, and other bodily processes. Example: While studying the birds, the researchers conducted intense studies of the animals’ metabolic rate increases during prolonged flights.

Other Word Forms

• hypermetabolic
  adjective
• metabolically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of metabolic

First recorded in 1735–45; from Greek metabolikós “changeable,” from metabol(ḗ) “change” + -ikos -ic; see metabolism

Explanation

The adjective metabolic describes anything relating to the processes in the body that change food into energy. The high metabolic rate of an endurance athlete requires them to eat enormous meals. Metabolic processes are incredibly complicated, and they happen at the cellular level in human (and non-human) bodies. Turning calories from food into energy which keeps a body moving is just the simplest way to think about metabolic activity. When you consider the change that occurs (a peanut butter and jelly sandwich transforming into energy you use to play a soccer game), the root of metabolic makes total sense: it's the Greek metabole, "a change."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

metabolic

"The changes we observed in glucose tolerance and gene expression could be interpreted as early biological signals related to metabolic or inflammatory processes," said Concha.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

Doctors often recommend low-fat, low-carbohydrate, or Mediterranean diets for weight loss, but researchers have not known whether one approach provides extra metabolic advantages beyond the effects of losing weight.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026

The metabolic condition, which affects up to one in eight women, changes how the ovaries work and was linked to infertility and weight gain, the UK's NHS said.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

"In the liver, for example, we have an aging clock built with protein data, an aging clock of metabolic data, and an aging clock of imaging data," Wen says.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

ATP is the universal currency of energy, and the metabolic cycles that produce it turn to the same purpose in birds and bacteria, in men and mice.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson