Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Hectic
Hec′tic
,Adj.
[F.
hectique
, Gr. [GREEK] habitual, consumptive, fr. [GREEK] habit, a habit of body or mind, fr. [GREEK] to have; akin to Skr. sah
to overpower, endure; cf. AS. sige
, sigor
, victory, G. sieg
, Goth. sigis
. Cf. Scheme
.] 1.
Habitual; constitutional; pertaining especially to slow waste of animal tissue, as in consumption;
as, a
hectic
type in disease; a hectic
flush.2.
In a hectic condition; having hectic fever; consumptive;
as, a
. hectic
patientHectic fever
(Med.)
, a fever of irritation and debility, occurring usually at a advanced stage of exhausting disease, as a in pulmonary consumption.
Hec′tic
,Noun.
1.
(Med.)
Hectic fever.
2.
A hectic flush.
It is no living hue, but a strange
hectic
. Byron.
Webster 1828 Edition
Hectic
HEC'TIC
Definition 2024
hectic
hectic
English
Alternative forms
- hectick (obsolete)
Adjective
hectic (comparative more hectic, superlative most hectic)
- Pertaining to bodily reactions characterised by flushed or dry skin.
- hectic fever; a hectic patient
- 1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man, volume 3, chapter 1
- She never complained, but sleep and appetite fled from her, a slow fever preyed on her veins, her colour was hectic, and she often wept in secret [...]
- Very busy with activity and confusion; feverish.
- The city center is so hectic at 8 in the morning that I go to work an hour beforehand to avoid the crowds
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
of a fever whose intensity fluctuates
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very busy with activity and confusion
Noun
hectic (plural hectics)
- (obsolete) A hectic fever.
- (obsolete) A flush like one produced by such a fever.
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.147:
- For still he lay, and on his thin worn cheek / A purple hectic played like dying day / On the snow-tops of distant hills [...].
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.147: