valetudinarian

Etymology

From Latin valētūdinārius, from valetudo (“state of health, health, ill health”), from valere (“to be strong or well”) +‎ -an

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌvæ.lə.ˌtuː.də.ˈnɛɹ.i.ən/

• Audio (US)

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Adjective

valetudinarian (comparative more valetudinarian, superlative most valetudinarian)

1. sickly, infirm, of ailing health

   The valetudinarian habit of discussing his health had grown on Rose... -- Florence Anne Sellar MacCunn, Sir Walter Scott's Friends, 1910, p. 234

   • Macaulay

     The virtue which the world wants is a healthful virtue, not a valetudinarian virtue.

2. being overly worried about one's health

Noun

valetudinarian (plural valetudinarians)

1. A person in poor health or sickly, especially one who is constantly obsessed with their state of health

   The most uninformed mind, with a healthy body, is happier than the wisest valetudinarian. -- Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Mann Randolph, July 6, 1787 in The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Paul Leicester Ford (ed.), Vol. 5, pp. 300-01 (NY: 1904).

   • 1950, Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast

     Are you a mere valetudinarian, my dear Ladyship, or some prolific mendicant whose bewitched offspring she hopes I can return to human shape?

   The evil of the actual disparity in their ages (and Mr. Woodhouse had not married early) was much increased by his constitution and habits; for having been a valetudinarian all his life, without activity of mind or body, he was a much older man in ways than in years; and though everywhere beloved for the friendliness of his heart and his amiable temper, his talents could not have recommended him at any time. Jane Austen, Emma, Vol. I, Ch.1 (1815).

   She affected to be spunky about her ailments and afflictions, but she was in fact an utterly self-centered valetudinarian (Louis Auchincloss) The American Heritage Dictionary

   The cuisine, of course, would not be such as would raise water bubbles in the mouth of a valetudinarian; the carniverous propensity will mostly be gratified by steak which, when cut, will resemble the Mudhook Yacht Club burgee of rouge et noir; and savory soups and luscious salmon will be luxuries only obtainable in "cannister" form. -- Dixon Kemp, A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing (4th Ed.), 1884.

References

• valetudinarian in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913