high-functioning

[ hahy-fuhngk-shuh-ning ]

adjective

1. noting or relating to a person with a disability, chronic illness, or mental health issue who is able to fulfill more activities of daily living than others with the same condition:

   Psychiatrists called their child high-functioning during the autism assessment.

   It can be difficult for loved ones to spot the signs of high-functioning alcoholism.

Usage Note

Both high-functioning and its less-common cousin low-functioning are frequently used in older literature to describe how much assistance an autistic person needs with activities of daily living. However, low-functioning can be demeaning, while high-functioning can be used to ignore a disability or illness and deny a person the help they need; thus, these terms are often considered offensive by many people in the autism community. They may also be considered offensive by those who are neurodivergent in other ways or who have chronic illnesses.

Word History and Origins

Origin of high-functioning¹

First recorded in 1915–20, for the earlier sense “functioning at a high level”; 1985–90, for the current sense

Example Sentences

Needless to say, it’s not a sign of a high-functioning operation when your party’s most prominent state and local figures are both seeing their deputies raided by the FBI.

From Slate

Finally, at 25, I was here, doing the thing we are all supposed to do to be healthy, high-functioning humans: I was going to therapy.

From Slate

The 55-year-old from Islington in north London says she works with "high-functioning people who are not in control of alcohol".

From BBC

"I work with high-functioning people who are not in control of alcohol," Ms Parker says.

From BBC

A highly repressed, high-functioning alcoholic, Nimoy connected with the character of Spock on “Star Trek” better than he could with his adoring young son, as Adam Nimoy writes in his new memoir, “The Most Human: Reconciling With My Father, Leonard Nimoy.”

From Los Angeles Times