verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To recover health and strength gradually after sickness or weakness.

   "The patient convalesced for six months after his stroke."

2. 2
   get over an illness or shock wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

amelioratebrace upgainimprovelook upmend

Example

More examples

"The patient convalesced for six months after his stroke."

Etymology

From Latin convalēscere, from con- (intensive prefix) + valēscere (“to become strong”), inchoative of valēre (“to be strong”).

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