syphilitic

[ sif-uh-lit-ik ]

adjective

1. pertaining to, noting, or affected with syphilis.

noun

1. a person affected with syphilis.

Other Words From

• syphi·liti·cal·ly adverb
• anti·syphi·litic adjective noun
• postsyph·i·litic adjective
• pseudo·syphi·litic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of syphilitic¹

First recorded in 1780–90; from New Latin syphiliticus, from syphili(s) syphilis + -ticus -tic

Example Sentences

The Washington here, with dirty cotton hair and an expression of ominous blankness, is spattered with red — it makes him look Caucasian, bloody and syphilitic.

From New York Times

You keep reading because it’s Dylan, because there’s always an eerie little gas station, an Indian casino, an itinerant preacher or a syphilitic old madam around the next corner.

From New York Times

In the syphilitic group, half were given the best treatment known at the time, but the other half, about 200 men, received no treatment at all for syphilis, PHS officials say.

From Seattle Times

At 40, Baudelaire was a shadow of his former self, crushed by unrepayable debts, suffering the aftereffects of a seemingly minor stroke, and facing the onset of syphilitic debility.

From Washington Post

He had borrowed bits and pieces of a not-too-well-disguised Schoenberg as a model for the syphilitic central character in “Doctor Faustus.”

From New York Times