recrudescence
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of recrudescence
First recorded in 1715–25; from Latin recrūdēsc(ere) “to recrudesce ” + -ence
Explanation
When something that's bad comes back to haunt you, call it a recrudescence. It's not a word you'll hear often, but it's useful. Don't confuse recrudescence with resurgence, which is neutral and could be used just as easily to describe an increase in crime as to describe the return of warm weather in the spring. Recrudescence is bad. Use it to talk about a new growth of pimples, the return of the symptoms of a disease, or an underground crime ring.
Vocabulary lists containing recrudescence
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.
Who would benefit from the end of community fluoridation and a recrudescence of tooth decay?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2024
What many would see as a remarkable stroke of good fortune is eclipsed in Garrett’s telling by the recrudescence of fears and frustrations that he had briefly consigned to the past.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 19, 2020
One concerns the recrudescence of a variety of nationalism that is Orientalist whenever it arises in the Asian context.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2018
Europe as a whole needed the German economy to recover, but everyone, especially the French, feared a recrudescence of German power.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 17, 2016
But there would be a mild recrudescence of Christmas gaieties in a week's time, when there was to be another ball, for which most of the party would reassemble.
From The Honour of the Clintons by Marshall, Archibald
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.
