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Glite Dictionary
🏃 Busy activity 🤒 Prolonged fever
hecticness

hecticness

9.9
A long fever with red cheeks and heavy sweating at night
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛktɪk.nəs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : hecticidad
  • Persistent hecticness can indicate a chronic infection such as tuberculosis.

Examples

  • The patient's hecticness was evident from his flushed cheeks and constant sweating.

  • Doctors in the 19th century often noted hecticness as a sign of serious underlying disease.

  • The patient's hecticness indicated a serious underlying condition.

  • Many doctors associate hecticness with chronic infections.

  • The doctor diagnosed the patient with hecticness after observing his persistent fever and sweating.

  • In medical literature, hecticness is often described as a symptom of tuberculosis and other chronic diseases.

  • During the examination, the physician noted the patient's hecticness, which suggested a serious health issue.

How Severe

hyperpyrexia
  • Specialized
1 9.9
hecticness
  • Archaic
9.9
fever
390 1.0

Surface Forms

hecticness singular
hecticnesses plural

Morphology

hecticness = hectic (opaque) = hectic + ness

Although morphologically 'hectic' + '-ness', the medical/archaic sense depends on an older sense of 'hectic' meaning feverish, which is not recoverable for learners who know only the common 'busy' sense.

Etymology

Hecticness originally meant 'feverish' and was used in medicine for a long fever with flushed skin and night sweats. That's why older doctors used hecticness to name this medical condition.