rachitic
Syllables: rach·it·ic/ɹəˈkɪtɪk/US/ɹəˈkɪtɪk/
rachitic adjective: of or pertaining to, or affected by, rickets (“a disorder of infancy and early childhood due to a deficiency of vitamin D, causing soft or weak bones”).
Adjective
rachitic (comparative more rachitic, superlative most rachitic)
- Of or pertaining to, or affected by, rickets (“a disorder of infancy and early childhood due to a deficiency of vitamin D, causing soft or weak bones”).
- Nor was there time to do much more than distribute some sweet to the pallid rachitic children.1982, Lawrence Durrell, “Constance, or Solitary Practices”, in The Avignon Quintet, London: Faber & Faber, published 2004, →ISBN, page 761
- His companions—now I could see them as well. […] Tiny, nocturnal, twittering, they were like rachitic children, and as one went past me I saw mongoloid features and a bald head.1989, Umberto Eco, chapter 113, in William Weaver, transl., Foucault’s Pendulum (A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book), San Diego, Calif.; New York, N.Y.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, →ISBN, page 582
- Synonyms:
- rickety
- In a precarious or weak condition; likely to break down or collapse; feeble, rickety.
- On Dec. 2, we found ourselves rolling in the roads of pestilential Lagos, our lullaby the sullen distant roar, whilst a dusky white gleam smoking over the deadly bar in the darkening horizon threatened us with a disagreeable landing at the last, the youngest, and the most rachitic of Great...1864, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “I Do Not Become ‘Fast Friends’ with Lagos”, in A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome. […], volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 25
- Gumbril Senior occupied a tall, narrow-shouldered and rachitic house in a little obscure square not far from Paddington. […] It was a prematurely old and decaying house in a decaying quarter.1923 November, Aldous Huxley, chapter II, in Antic Hay, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 17
rachitic meaning in Hindi and Tamil
rachitic in Hindi
- of or pertaining to, or affected by, rickets
- क्षीण kṣīṇ
rachitic in Tamil
- எலும்பு மெலிவு, எலும்பு வளைவு
Synonyms of rachitic
Forms of rachitic
| comparative | more rachitic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most rachitic |
Origin of rachitic
From rachitis (“rickets”) + -ic (suffix forming adjectives from nouns with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), possibly modelled after French rachitique or Late Latin rachiticus. Rachitis is an unadapted borrowing from New Latin rachitis, used by the British physician Francis Glisson (1597–1677) to refer to rickets, from Koine Greek ῥαχῖτις (rhakhîtis) (in ῥαχῖτις νόσος (rhakhîtis nósos, “spinal inflammation”, literally “spinal disease”)), the feminine form of ῥαχίτης (rhakhítēs, “in or of the spine, spinal”), from Ancient Greek ῥάχῐς (rhákhĭs, “lower part of the back; (anatomy) backbone, spine”) (probably ultimately Pre-Greek) + -ῖτις (-îtis) (feminine form of -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming nouns with the sense ‘one connected to’)). By surface analysis, rach- + -itic.
Words formed from rachitic
Phrases with rachitic
Words that rhyme with rachitic
Questions about rachitic
- What does rachitic mean?
- Rachitic means of or pertaining to, or affected by, rickets (“a disorder of infancy and early childhood due to a deficiency of vitamin D, causing soft or weak bones”).
- What is rachitic in Hindi?
- Rachitic in Hindi is क्षीण (kṣīṇ). See Rachitic meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is rachitic?
- Rachitic is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce rachitic?
- Rachitic is pronounced /ɹəˈkɪtɪk/ (UK).
Words near rachitic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rachitic (page history and authors); rachitic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-rachitic.wav.
Cite this entry: “rachitic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rachitic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.