consumptive

consumptive

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈsʌmptɪv/

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Adjective

consumptive (comparative more consumptive, superlative most consumptive)

1. Having a tendency to consume; dissipating; destructive; wasteful.
   • 1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation

     a long consumptive war

2. Of, or relating to consumption.
3. (pathology) Relating to pulmonary tuberculosis.

   consumptive cough

   • a. 1701 (date written)​, John Dryden, “The Latter Part of the Fourth Book of Lucretius; Concerning the Nature of Love”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, OCLC 863244003, page 457:

     The lean, conſumptive, wench, with coughs decay'd, / Is call'd a pretty, tight, and ſlender maid.

Derived terms

• nonconsumptive

Translations

having a tendency to consume

Bulgarian: изтощителен (bg) (iztoštitelen) Finnish: kuluttava (fi) Ukrainian: виснажливий m (vysnažlyvyj), руйнівний m (rujnivnyj)

of, or relating to consumption

Finnish: kulutus- (fi) German: schwindsüchtig (de)

relating to pulmonary tuberculosis

Bulgarian: туберкулозен (bg) (tuberkulozen) Dutch: tuberculeus (nl) Finnish: tuberkuloottinen French: tuberculeux (fr) m or m pl, tuberculeuse (fr) f Ido: tuberklosiko (io), tuberklosika (io) Ukrainian: сухотний m (suxotnyj)

Noun

consumptive (plural consumptives)

1. A person suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.
   • 2002, Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White, Canongate Books (2010), page 426:

     The consumptive has managed to shake the servant from her side and walks alone, striving to make it look easy.

Translations

person with pulmonary tuberculosis

Bulgarian: туберкулозен (bg) m (tuberkulozen) Dutch: teringlijder (nl) m (dated, now possibly vulgar) Finnish: tuberkuloosipotilas French: tuberculeux (fr) m, tuberculeuse (fr) f Romanian: tuberculos (ro) m, tuberculoasă f Spanish: tísico (es) m