chronically
- 01 C1 Advanced
in a way that continues for a long time or keeps coming back, especially a health problem.
in a persistent or long-lasting manner; frequently used in medical contexts to describe conditions that are not acute.
Simple“He is chronically ill and needs to see a doctor every week.”
In context“The patient was chronically fatigued, a condition that persisted despite numerous interventions and lifestyle adjustments over several years.”
UsageOften modifies adjectives related to health or negative states.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
to a very high degree, usually describing something very bad.
used as an intensifier to mean 'extremely' or 'severely', typically in a negative register.
Simple“The movie was chronically boring and we left before the end.”
In context“The service at the restaurant was chronically slow, resulting in several customers leaving before their appetizers had even arrived.”
Teacher's tipIn British English, this can be used as a general intensifier for 'very bad', though it is less common than the literal medical sense.
SynonymsAntonyms
“Although this condition is linked to a wide variety of negative health effects , the public chronically underestimates its seriousness .”
“Some argue that people chronically underestimate the scale of inequality – in the 2014 study, Americans underestimated the actual pay ratio at the time as being only 30-to-1.”