valetudinarian
Americannoun
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an invalid.
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a person who is excessively concerned about their own poor health or ailments.
adjective
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in poor health; sickly; invalid.
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excessively concerned about one's poor health or ailments.
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of, relating to, or characterized by invalidism.
noun
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a person who is or believes himself to be chronically sick; invalid
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a person excessively worried about the state of his health; hypochondriac
adjective
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relating to, marked by, or resulting from poor health
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being a valetudinarian
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trying to return to a healthy state
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of valetudinarian
First recorded in 1695–1705; valetudinary + -an
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.
“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.
From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2020
Paranoid about his health, this classic valetudinarian is really scared of dying alone and unloved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2016
Other countries should be put on notice that Britain is nobody's poor relation and nobody's valetudinarian cousin.
From Time Magazine Archive
With the air of an unwilling valetudinarian, Michigan's handsome, boot-jawed Governor Kim Sigler got up to speak before the Economics Club of Detroit.
From Time Magazine Archive
The new ministry, under the nominal headship of the valetudinarian duke of Portland, included Perceval as chancellor of the exchequer, Canning as foreign secretary and Castlereagh as secretary for war and the colonies.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5 English History by Various
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.
