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

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Etymology

Origin of metabolic

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

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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

Researchers believe the compound's ability to protect the intestinal barrier could make it useful against other conditions involving inflammation and metabolic dysfunction.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

AstraZeneca said the collaboration would focus on difficult-to-treat cardiometabolic diseases such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, also known as fatty liver disease, and cardiomyopathies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Researchers also observed reductions in inflammation and improvements in certain metabolic changes associated with aging.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Rather than depending on one master switch, multiple neural circuits, hormones, and metabolic signals appear to help determine how age-related changes unfold.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Gene replication must explain how a multicellular organism emerges from a single cell—and errors in replication might elucidate how a spontaneous metabolic illness, or a devastating mental disease, might arise in a previously unaffected family.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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