pathological
Americanadjective
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of or relating to pathology, or the science or study of diseases and their causes.
Research into the pathological origins of alcoholism is ongoing.
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caused by, indicative of, or involving disease.
Her white blood cell count had fallen to a pathological level.
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caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition.
He is a pathological hoarder.
They show a pathological lack of concern for the suffering of others.
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dealing with diseases.
The neurologist kept a pathological casebook from her practice as a source of examples for lectures.
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Mathematics. designating a phenomenon or object, such as a function, that is logically and correctly defined but has counterintuitive or paradoxical properties.
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Computers. relating to or producing a failed outcome or one that is contrary to what was intended or expected.
This is just an example of what happens when the algorithm encounters pathological data.
A pathological input shouldn't break the algorithm.
adjective
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of or relating to pathology
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relating to, involving, or caused by disease
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informal compulsively motivated
a pathological liar
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pathological
First recorded in 1680–90; from Greek pathologik(ós) ( see pathology, -ic) + -al 1
Explanation
If something is caused by a physical or mental disease, it is pathological. Someone with a pathological compulsion for cleanliness might scrub the floors for hours every night. Pathological comes from a Greek word, pathologikos, which means “treating of diseases” — pathos means "suffering." Anyone who studies or works with diseases, from their causes to their symptoms, identifies how the disease affects its victims, in other words, its pathological effects. Remember that this is a medical distinction. If a person has, for example, obsessive-compulsive disorder, his or her repetitive actions are pathological.
Vocabulary lists containing pathological
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Common Senses: Path ("Feeling")
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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.
But Ms. Dimmock, by doling out Parker’s pathological lies and absurd deceptions in modest doses, accomplishes two strategic things—momentum and controlled toxicity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Zoning in on his career and moments such as his dramatic ousting from OpenAI in 2023, the story portrayed Altman as a pathological liar.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
The intellectual class has never been immune to the pathological American conviction that history is bunk.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
D'Alessandro notes potential relevance for exercise physiology and for pathological hypoxia after traumatic injury.
From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2026
Psychiatrists talk about criminals as people with stunted psychological development, people who have had pathological relationships with their parents, who lack adequate role models.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
