Orthopnoea

//ɔrˈθɒpniə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Shortness of breath when lying flat, causing the person to have to sleep propped up in bed or sitting in a chair. uncountable, usually

Etymology

From ortho- + -pnoea, from Ancient Greek ὀρθόπνοια (orthópnoia, “breathing only in an upright posture”), from ὀρθός (orthós, “straight”) + πνοή (pnoḗ, “breath”).

Related phrases

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