Psoriasis
//səˈɹaɪ.əsɪs// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A noncontagious disease whose main symptom is gray or silvery flaky patches on the skin which are red and inflamed underneath when scratched. countable, uncountable
"He suffers from a skin complaint, psoriasis, which has rendered his hands scaly, hard and red."
- 2 a chronic skin disease characterized by dry red patches covered with scales; occurs especially on the scalp and ears and genitalia and the skin over bony prominences wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Researchers have developed a moisturizing lotion with the potential to treat deadly skin cancers, psoriasis and promote diabetic wound healing."
Etymology
From Late Latin psōriasis (“mange, scurvy, psoriasis”), from Koine Greek ψωρίασις (psōríasis), from Ancient Greek ψώρα (psṓra, “itch”) + -σις (-sis, “-sis: forming nouns of action & medical disorders”). Cognate with psora.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.