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View synonyms for valetudinarian

valetudinarian

[ val-i-tood-n-air-ee-uhn, -tyood- ]

noun

  1. an invalid.
  2. a person who is excessively concerned about their own poor health or ailments.


adjective

  1. in poor health; sickly; invalid.
  2. excessively concerned about one's poor health or ailments.
  3. of, relating to, or characterized by invalidism.

valetudinarian

/ ˌvælɪˈtjuːdɪnərɪ; ˌvælɪˌtjuːdɪˈnɛərɪən /

noun

  1. a person who is or believes himself to be chronically sick; invalid
  2. a person excessively worried about the state of his health; hypochondriac
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


adjective

  1. relating to, marked by, or resulting from poor health
  2. being a valetudinarian
  3. trying to return to a healthy state
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˌvaleˌtudiˈnarianˌism, noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of valetudinarian1

First recorded in 1695–1705; valetudinary + -an
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Word History and Origins

Origin of valetudinarian1

C18: from Latin valētūdō state of health, from valēre to be well
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Example Sentences

“There’s a class-based idea that anything too valetudinarian, too conspicuously hygienic, is middle-class,” he said, using a long word for being unduly anxious about one’s health.

“He’s a valetudinarian as opposed to a hypochondriac, who is entirely concerned with their own health — he’s obsessively concerned with everybody else’s,” Nighy said in an interview.

Paranoid about his health, this classic valetudinarian is really scared of dying alone and unloved.

Andy from Broadstairs, potentially impressed by the heft of , writes: "What does valetudinarians mean Will? have you been at the thesaurus again?"

From BBC

When I was a child, people still spoke of the Biblical "three-score and ten" as a perfectly acceptable lifespan, and once they had retired, usually in their mid-60s, they thought of themselves as valetudinarians.

From BBC

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Valettavaletudinarianism