cachetic
Definition
Adjective (primarily used in medicine): - Relating to or suffering from cachexia: "cachetic" describes a state of general ill health, malnutrition, and wasting, often associated with chronic diseases such as cancer or tuberculosis.
Usage Examples
- (The patient showed signs of severe wasting due to illness.)
- (The wasting condition can be improved with dietary care.)
Advanced Usage
"cachetic state": a medical condition characterized by extreme weakness and emaciation.
- The doctor noted the cachetic state of the cancer patient. (The doctor observed the severe wasting condition.)
"cachetic habitus": a physical constitution marked by wasting and poor health.
- The elderly man had a cachetic habitus, suggesting long-term illness. (His body shape indicated chronic wasting.)
Variants and Related Words
Cachexia (noun): the medical condition of general physical wasting and malnutrition.
- Cachexia is commonly seen in terminal cancer patients. (The wasting condition is common in advanced stages of cancer.)
Cachectic (adjective): an alternative spelling of "cachetic", meaning the same.
- The cachectic patient required intravenous feeding. (The patient suffering from wasting needed nutritional support.)
Synonyms
- Emaciated: abnormally thin or weak, especially because of illness or lack of food.
- Wasted: having lost physical strength and weight due to disease.
- Atrophic: characterized by a decrease in size of a body part or tissue.
Related Idioms
- "waste away": to gradually become thinner and weaker, often due to disease.
- Without treatment, the patient began to waste away. (The patient became increasingly emaciated.)