anorexic

Pluralanorexics

1. 1
   adjective

   Relating to anorexia nervosa, or suffering from the condition.

   Several anorexic patients on the ward were slowly regaining weight under close supervision.

   Her parents realized she had become anorexic only when her school called them.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A person who suffers from anorexia nervosa.

   The support group welcomes recovering anorexics and their families.

   As a recovering anorexic, he plans every meal with his dietitian.

3. 3
   adjective

   Very thin, or so slight as to have little substance.

   After the cuts, the department was left with an anorexic staff of three.

   The cookbook's anorexic portions would barely feed a child.

   Similarskeletal, meager, skimpy, scanty, paltry

   Oppositegenerous, ample, bloated

4. 4
   adjective

   Having little or no appetite, as a symptom of any of various diseases.

   On admission the patient was feverish, nauseated, and anorexic.

   The vet noted that the dog had been anorexic since the infection began.

   Note

   Clinical writing uses it for a symptom rather than a diagnosis: a feverish patient or a sick dog can be anorexic simply because appetite has gone. It is a separate matter from the eating disorder, though both grow from anorexia, and in a chart or a vet’s report the neighboring symptoms show which is meant.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A medicine that suppresses the appetite.

   The trial compared a new anorexic with a placebo in adults trying to lose weight.

   Her doctor declined to prescribe an anorexic and suggested a meal plan instead.

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