valetudinarian

[val-i-tood-n-air-ee-uhn, -tyood-]

noun

1. an invalid.

2. a person who is excessively concerned about their own poor health or ailments.

adjective

1. in poor health; sickly; invalid.

2. excessively concerned about one's poor health or ailments.

3. of, relating to, or characterized by invalidism.

valetudinarian

/ ˌvælɪˈtjuːdɪnərɪ, ˌvælɪˌtjuːdɪˈnɛərɪən /

noun

1. a person who is or believes himself to be chronically sick; invalid

2. a person excessively worried about the state of his health; hypochondriac

adjective

1. relating to, marked by, or resulting from poor health

2. being a valetudinarian

3. trying to return to a healthy state

Other Word Forms

• valetudinarianism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of valetudinarian¹

First recorded in 1695–1705; valetudinary + -an

Word History and Origins

Origin of valetudinarian¹

C18: from Latin valētūdō state of health, from valēre to be well

Example Sentences

“There’s a class-based idea that anything too valetudinarian, too conspicuously hygienic, is middle-class,” he said, using a long word for being unduly anxious about one’s health.

Read more on New York Times

“He’s a valetudinarian as opposed to a hypochondriac, who is entirely concerned with their own health — he’s obsessively concerned with everybody else’s,” Nighy said in an interview.

Read more on New York Times

Paranoid about his health, this classic valetudinarian is really scared of dying alone and unloved.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Andy from Broadstairs, potentially impressed by the heft of , writes: "What does valetudinarians mean Will? have you been at the thesaurus again?"

Read more on BBC

When I was a child, people still spoke of the Biblical "three-score and ten" as a perfectly acceptable lifespan, and once they had retired, usually in their mid-60s, they thought of themselves as valetudinarians.

Read more on BBC