ENGLISH
REFERENCE

inpatient

n. countable
C1 Advanced US //ˈɪnˌpeɪʃənt// UK //ˈɪnpeɪʃənt// in·pa·tient

n. a person who stays in a hospital for at least one night to get medical care. You use this word to distinguish them from people who visit for just an hour or two.

n. a patient who is admitted to a hospital or clinic for treatment that requires at least one overnight stay. Often contrasted with 'outpatient'.


SIMPLE

The hospital provides meals and a bed for every inpatient.

CONTEXTUAL

After the surgery, he was moved to the surgical ward as an inpatient for three days of observation.

COMPLEX

The facility is designed to accommodate both acute inpatients requiring constant monitoring and outpatients who only visit for brief physical therapy sessions.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Usage

Commonly used as a modifier in noun phrases like 'inpatient care' or 'inpatient treatment'.

Pitfall

he is an in-patienthe is an inpatientWhile the hyphenated form exists in older texts, modern medical and general English prefers the closed compound 'inpatient'.

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