Consumptive

//kənˈsʌmptɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.

    "The consumptive has managed to shake the servant from her side and walks alone, striving to make it look easy."

  2. 2
    a person with pulmonary tuberculosis wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Having a tendency to consume; dissipating; destructive; wasteful.

    "a long consumptive war"

  2. 2
    Of or relating to consumption.
  3. 3
    Relating to pulmonary tuberculosis.

    "consumptive cough"

Adjective
  1. 1
    tending to consume or use often wastefully wordnet
  2. 2
    afflicted with or associated with pulmonary tuberculosis wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
allergicanemicapoplecticarthriticastringentbaneful

Example

More examples

"[O]n ſome occaſions, he diſplayed all his fund of good humour, vvith a vievv to beguile her ſorrovv; he importuned her to give him the pleasure of ’ſquiring her to ſome place of innocent entertainment; and, finally, inſiſted upon her accepting a pecuniary reinforcement to her finances, vvhich he knevv to be in a moſt conſumptive condition."

Etymology

From Middle English consumptive, from Latin cōnsūmptus, past participle of cōnsūmō, + -ive.

Related phrases

pulmonary tuberculosis

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.