valetudinary
Americannoun
plural
valetudinariesEtymology
Origin of valetudinary
1575–85; < Latin valētūdinārius sickly, equivalent to valētūdin- (stem of valētūdō ) good or bad state of health ( valē ( re ) to be well + -tūdō -tude ) + -ārius -ary
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.
She had the misfortune of a very valetudinary constitution, owing, in some measure, probably to the irregularity of her form.
From The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) Volume V. by Cibber, Theophilus
Beside these suffering men Lord George lay on a floor all night, having given up the minister's house in Musselburgh, which had been destined as his quarters, to those who were valetudinary.
From Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 Volume III. by Thomson, Mrs.
The indulgence and accommodation which his sickness required, had taught him all the unpleasing and unsocial qualities of a valetudinary man.
From The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes Volume the Eighth: The Lives of the Poets, Volume II by Johnson, Samuel
Instead of making him a valetudinary, this continual liability to death aided to make him a hero.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 05, March, 1858 by Various
It is worthy of remark, that the Austrian medical officers send the valetudinary among the soldiers to these baths from a very great distance.
From Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, Visited in 1837. Vol. II by Gleig, G. R. (George Robert)
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.
