# chronic

Pronunciation: US say "KRAH-nik" /ˈkɹɑ.nɪk/; say "KRON-ik" UK /ˈkɹɒn.ɪk/, AUS /ˈkɹɔn.ɪk/

## Adjective

1. Of a problem: continuing or persisting over an extended period of time.
   - Simple: Lasting for a long time and hard to fix or stop.
   - _The region suffers from chronic water shortages every summer._
   - _Chronic underfunding has left the library unable to replace its damaged books._
2. Of an illness or medical condition: prolonged or slow to heal.
   - Simple: Lasting a long time or healing very slowly, like some illnesses and injuries.
   - _Chronic inflammation can quietly damage tissue over many years._
   - _The clinic specializes in managing chronic conditions like diabetes and asthma._
3. Living with an illness or other affliction that lasts a long time or takes a long time to heal.
   - Simple: Sick for a long time with an illness that does not get better.
   - _Chronic patients often build close relationships with their care teams._
   - _By forty he was chronic, living around the limits his illness set._
4. Inveterate or habitual; given to a behavior so persistently that it has become ingrained.
   - Simple: Doing something again and again, as a fixed habit.
   - _He was a chronic gambler who would bet on anything with odds._
   - _Chronic procrastinators often underestimate how long a task will take._
6. Extremely serious. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Very serious, in a bad and worrying way.
   - _By midnight the flooding had turned chronic, and they evacuated the lower floors._
   - _The referee warned that any more chronic fouls would mean a straight red card._
7. Very bad; awful. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Very bad or awful.
   - _The hotel looked lovely online, but the rooms turned out to be chronic._
   - _His first attempt at karaoke was absolutely chronic._
8. Good or great; excellent. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Very good or great.
   - _The DJ's set last night was chronic from start to finish._
   - _Those custom sneakers are chronic. Where did you get them?_

## Noun

5. Marijuana, typically of high quality. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Marijuana, usually of a strong, high-quality kind.
   - _They paid extra for chronic instead of the usual mid-grade stuff._
   - _He swore the chronic from up the coast hit harder than anything grown locally._
9. A person marked by a long-lasting condition or persistent behavior pattern, such as a repeat criminal offender or a patient with a long-term disease.
   - Simple: A person with a problem that never goes away, like someone who keeps breaking the law or is always sick.
   - _Probation officers spend most of their hours on chronics._
   - _The shelter director called one resident a chronic, in and out for fifteen years._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A condition of extended duration, either continuous or marked by frequent recurrence; sometimes taken to imply worsening with each recurrence, though the implication is not inherent.

## Origin

It comes from chronical, via Old French cronike and Latin chronicus, from Ancient Greek khronikós ("of time"), from khrónos ("time").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/chronic (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).