parasitic
[par-uh-sit-ik]
- of, relating to, or characteristic of parasites.
- (of diseases) due to parasites.
- Phonetics. excrescent(def 2).
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Sometimes par·a·sit·i·cal.
Origin of parasitic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for parasitically
Contemporary Examples
Work of Art is the new Anti-Aesthetic to the self-obsessed and parasitically over-professionalized Art World.
Historical Examples
Is it a worm which lives in freedom here, and parasitically elsewhere?
Animal Parasites and MessmatesP. J. Van Beneden
It lives upon the gorse just as parasitically as the little green aphides live upon our rose-bushes.
The Evolutionist at LargeGrant Allen
Sometimes a Cirro-Stratus cloud comes along and fastens itself to it parasitically.
Parasitically it engrafts itself on the truth and its various systems, to prey upon them the more successfully.
The philosophy of life, and philosophy of language, in a course of lecturesFrederick von Schlegel
Word Origin and History for parasitically
parasitic
adj.
1620s, from Latin parasiticus, from Greek parasitikos "of or pertaining to a parasite; the trade of a parasite," from parasitos (see parasite). Biological sense is from 1731. Related: Parasitical, 1570s in reference to toadies; from 1640s in the biological sense.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
parasitic
(păr′ə-sĭt′ĭk)- Of, relating to, or characteristic of a parasite.
- Caused by a parasite.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.