tabescent

[ tuh-bes-uhnt ]

adjective

1. wasting away; becoming emaciated or consumed.

tabescent

/ təˈbɛsənt /

adjective

1. progressively emaciating; wasting away
2. of, relating to, or having tabes

Derived Forms

• taˈbescence, noun

Other Words From

• ta·bescence noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of tabescent¹

1885–90; < Latin tābēscent- (stem of tābēscēns ), present participle of tābēscere to waste away. See tabes, -escent

Word History and Origins

Origin of tabescent¹

C19: from Latin tābēscere, from tabes

Example Sentences

“At this weak, pale, tabescent moment in the history of American literature, we need a battalion, a brigade, of Zolas to head out into this wild, bizarre, unpredictable, Hog-stomping, Baroque country of ours and reclaim it as literary property,” he wrote.

From New York Times

“At this weak, pale, tabescent moment in the history of American literature,” Mr Wolfe wrote in one of his manifestos on behalf of literary realism, “we need a battalion, a brigade, of Zolas to head out into this wild, bizarre, unpredictable, hog-stomping, Baroque country of ours and reclaim it as literary property.”

From Economist

What would the author of the Spectator have thought of a writer who could unblushingly parade before the literary public such words as "relaxed orgasmus," "tabescent vitality," "monoptotes," &c.?

From Project Gutenberg

At this weak, pale, tabescent moment in the history of American literature, we need a battalion, a brigade, of Zolas to head out into this wild, bizarre, unpredictable, Hog-stomping Baroque country of ours and reclaim it as literary property.

From Time Magazine Archive