degenerative arthritis
- noun
- /dɪˈdʒɛnərətɪv ɑrˈθraɪtɪs/
- Specialized
:
artritis degenerativa
- He manages his degenerative arthritis by practicing gentle exercises and taking medication.
Examples
-
You have severe degenerative arthritis.
-
On your good knee, your left knee, you have moderate to severe degenerative arthritis.
-
As I said, my father had damaged hands—a degenerative arthritis, we were told.
Fiction book (1993) -
Both types of procedures have been developed to alleviate the symptoms associated with focal chondral defects, as well as limit their potential to progress to diffuse degenerative arthritis.
Academic text (2005) -
Many elderly patients suffer from degenerative arthritis, which affects their mobility.
-
After being diagnosed with degenerative arthritis, she learned to adapt her daily routine to cope with the pain.
Synonyms
86
3.5
A condition that causes pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints
8
5.3
A long-term disease that makes joints painful and stiff in older people
1
4.3
A long-lasting condition where joint cartilage slowly breaks down causing pain and stiffness
1
9.7
A disease that affects a joint and makes it painful or stiff
How Severe
- Specialized
8
5.3
- Specialized
- Specialized
86
3.5
- Specialized
1
9.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'degenerative' denotes progressive deterioration and 'arthritis' denotes a joint condition, so together they plainly mean a joint disease involving tissue/cartilage breakdown over time. This adjective+noun pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Degenerative arthritis names a joint problem where the parts slowly get worse: degenerative means 'slowly getting worse' and arthritis means a painful joint. Think of the soft cushion between bones wearing away so the bones rub and hurt, and that image explains why the term means a long-term joint condition caused by this breakdown.