Valetudinarian
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A person in poor health or sickly, especially one who is constantly obsessed with their state of health
"The most uninformed mind, with a healthy body, is happier than the wisest valetudinarian."
- 2 weak or sickly person especially one morbidly concerned with his or her health wordnet
- 1 Sickly, infirm, of ailing health.
"The virtue which the world wants is a healthful virtue, not a valetudinarian virtue."
- 2 Being overly worried about one's health.
"True Madam there are Valetudinarians in Reputation as well as constitution—who being conscious of their weak Part, avoid the least breath of air, and supply their want of Stamina by care and circumspection—"
- 1 of or relating to or characteristic of a person who is a valetudinarian wordnet
Example
More examples"The virtue which the world wants is a healthful virtue, not a valetudinarian virtue."
Etymology
From valetudinary + -an, from Latin valētūdinārius, from valētūdō (“state of health, health, ill health”), from valeō (“to be strong or well”). By surface analysis, valetude + -in- + -arian.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.