Dysplasia

//dɪsˈpleɪ.ʒə// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Abnormal development of cells or tissue, often a precancerous stage of growth. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    abnormal development (of organs or cells) or an abnormal structure resulting from such growth wordnet
  3. 3
    Term created by John Curtis Gowan in 1974 to define the trauma caused by asynchronous psychological development on children. countable, uncountable

    "A number of theorists and researchers have independently written about asynchronous development. Gowan (1974) discussed the implications of cognitive capacities which outstrip emotional (affective) development. He referred to asynchronous development as "dysplasia": (...)"

Example

More examples

"A number of theorists and researchers have independently written about asynchronous development. Gowan (1974) discussed the implications of cognitive capacities which outstrip emotional (affective) development. He referred to asynchronous development as "dysplasia": (...)"

Etymology

From dys- + -plasia.

Related phrases

Eiken skeletal dysplasiaLenz dysplasiaLewandowsky-Lutz dysplasiaacrocephalopolydactylous dysplasiaboomerang dysplasiabronchopulmonary dysplasiadysplasia epiphysealis hemimelicaepithelial dysplasiafaciodigitogenital dysplasiafibromuscular dysplasiafibrous dysplasiahip dysplasia

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