rheumatism
Americannoun
-
rheumatisms
plural
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any disorder of the extremities or back, characterized by pain and stiffness.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rheumatism
1595–1605; < Latin rheumatismus catarrh, rheum < Greek rheumatismós, equivalent to rheumat- (stem of rheûma; see rheum) + -ismos -ism
Compare meaning
How does rheumatism compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Rheumatism is a medical condition of painful inflammation in muscles, joints, or connective tissue. If you volunteer to help an elderly woman with rheumatism in her hands, you might help her write, or carry her bags. Rheumatism comes from the old Greek medical word rheum, which means flux or flow, and comes from outdated medical ideas about the flow of humors causing pain or stiffness in the joints. Now, rheumatism is defined as inflammation in the joints, muscles, or tissues. If someone has rheumatism, their movement is stiff and painful.
Vocabulary lists containing rheumatism
Of Mice and Men
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Persepolis
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Bless Me, Ultima
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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.
See Examples For:
He suffers from rheumatism and would like nothing more than to “heal” on a beach in Cuba—still the ideal of paradise for those who grew up in drab old communist Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Bone is maintained via delicate balance between formation and resorption, and its imbalance leads to bone related diseases like osteoporosis rheumatism and periodontitis.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2023
If inhaled, the organisms could end up in the lungs and cause a pneumonia called, variously, coccidioidomycosis or desert rheumatism or Valley fever.
From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2022
“The young should really come forward because we’re afflicted by rheumatism and we have many co-morbidities,” said Taguiwalo, now 72.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2022
Him being bent with rheumatism, he couldn’t do work like that anymore himself.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
I am full of cramps & rheumatisms, and cold internally so that fire won't warm me, yet I bear all for virtues sake.
From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 The Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb, 1796-1820 by E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas
Colds and rheumatisms, owing to bleak winds and much wet, were the chief complaints.
From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Robert Fitzroy
Why you should see us afore we starts with our boards, all a-rubbin' our rheumatisms or a-coughin', so as it is wonderful how we gets on.
From The Man with the Book or, The Bible Among the People. by John Matthias Weylland
The baths of Aix are very celebrated, and the town is much visited by valetudinarians: they are chiefly recommended in scorbutic humours, colds, rheumatisms, palsies, and consumptions.
From Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808 by Lt-Col. Pinkney
In that lovely Italy you rave about, you would soon shake off your horrid rheumatisms, that torment you so.
From L'Arrabiata and Other Tales by Paul Heyse
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.
