chronic

Alternative forms

• chronick (obsolete)

Etymology

From chronical, from Old French cronike, from Latin chronicus, from Ancient Greek χρονικός (khronikós, “of time”), from χρόνος (khrónos, “time”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɒnɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɒnɪk

Adjective

chronic (comparative more chronic, superlative most chronic)

1. Of a problem, that continues over an extended period of time.

   chronic unemployment; chronic poverty; chronic anger

   • 2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Chronic mismanagement in the dugout and in the boardroom has meant the scale of the job now is as big as it has ever been.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess‎:

     It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.

2. (medicine) Prolonged or slow to heal.

   chronic cough; chronic headache; chronic illness

3. Of a person, suffering from an affliction that is prolonged or slow to heal.

   Chronic patients must learn to live with their condition.

4. Inveterate or habitual.

   He's a chronic smoker.

5. (slang) Very bad, awful.

   That concert was chronic.

6. (informal) Extremely serious.

   They left him in a chronic condition.

7. (slang) Good, great; "wicked".

   That was cool, chronic in fact.

Noun

chronic (countable and uncountable, plural chronics)

1. (slang) Marijuana, typically of high quality.
2. (anthropology) A social situation or phenomenon that is intense and protracted.
3. (medicine) A condition of extended duration, either continuous or marked by frequent recurrence. Sometimes implies a condition which worsens with each recurrence, though that is not inherent in the term.
4. A person who is chronic, such as a criminal reoffender or a person with chronic disease.
   • 2003, Philip Bean, Crime: Critical Concepts in Sociology, page 376:

     Of fifty-five boys scoring four or more, fifteen were chronic offenders (out of twenty-three chronics altogether) […]

References

• chronic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “chronic” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2018.