consumptive
- noun
- /kənˈsʌmp.tɪv/
- Archaic
:
consuntivo
- It rains over the waters of the Arnego River, which runs flooding ditches and frightens the consumptives out of their wits.
Examples
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Latimer writes, "The mental restlessness of the consumptive was a sign of genius" (1023).
Academic text (1999) -
Latimer catalogues the consumptive's symptoms:
Academic text (1999) -
The consumptives plot against me.
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Thomas Mann's great book The Magic Mountain is perhaps the last great artistic expression of the consumptive era and its susceptibilities.
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Rene and Jean Dubos point out that consumptives with obvious symptoms "have always been advised to rest, to refrain as much as possible from speaking, and to achieve the tranquillity of mind that brings about relaxation of body and soul" (146).
Academic text (1999) -
In the 19th century, many consumptives were sent to sanatoriums in the hopes of recovery.
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The book portrays the struggles of consumptives living in a society that stigmatized their illness.
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She often wrote letters to her friends, sharing her experiences as a consumptive enduring long periods of illness.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A person with a serious lung disease called tuberculosis, used especially in the past
A person who has tuberculosis, usually in the lungs
Surface Forms
Etymology
Consumptive was used for a person with 'consumption', the old name for tuberculosis, because the sickness appeared to 'consume' their strength and weight. That is why a literary or historical consumptive means a person suffering from that lung disease.