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Glite Dictionary
to decompensate

to decompensate

3 8.9
To lose normal physical or mental ability because of illness
  • verb
  • /ˌdiːˈkɒmpənˌseɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : decompensar
  • In patients diagnosed with acute decompensated heart failure, blood galectin-3 levels have shown to be predictive of mortality on short-term follow-up.
  • decompensated liver
  • decompensated liver disease
  • patients with decompensated

This guy lost a long time ago and it's just decompensating faster and worse.

Examples

  • He was under so much pressure that he started to decompensate, losing his ability to cope with daily activities.

  • Chances are he's been decompensating for some time.

    Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

  • I knew he was decompensating, and I couldn't convince him to get back on his meds or admit himself.

    Metal Detector Maniac (2021)

  • You hear a lot about how people behave in wartime conditions, and they either become cooperative or they decompensate and become really upset and show their anger.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Following the seizure, the patient's condition decompensated, necessitating transfer to the medical intensive care unit, where she was intubated for airway protection.

    Academic text (2007)

  • After weeks of stress at work, he began to decompensate and struggled to focus on his tasks.

  • The doctor warned that if she didn't manage her anxiety, she would likely decompensate emotionally.

Synonyms

to fall apart
vsto decompensate
  • Informal
193 4.2

To lose control of your feelings because of strong stress or sadness

is a clinical failure to maintain normal body or mind functioning under stress
to break down
vsto decompensate
111 3.9

To lose control of your feelings and cry or collapse

is a medical loss of normal bodily or mental function from illness or stress

Antonyms

to compensate
94 3.7

To change something to reduce a problem caused by something else

How Functional

to function
441 2.6
to cope
272 2.9
to decompensate
  • Specialized
3 8.9

Surface Forms

decompensate infinitive
decompensated past
decompensated past participle
decompensating present participle
decompensates third person singular

Morphology

decompensate = compensate (semi-transparent) = de + compensate

Formed by productive prefixation 'de-' + 'compensate', but the sense is mainly clinical (failure of compensatory mechanisms) and thus somewhat specialized for learners.

Etymology

The word decompensate comes from de- meaning 'reverse' and compensate meaning 'to make up' or 'to balance'. So when someone decompensates, their body or mind can no longer 'balance' the problem and they lose normal physical or mental function, often because of illness or stress.