dermographia
- noun
- /ˌdɜrməˈɡræfiə/
- Specialized
:
dermografía
- People with dermographia can see red lines where they lightly scratch their skin.
Examples
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After lightly scratching her arm, red lines appeared due to dermographia.
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People with dermographia may notice their skin reacts strongly to even gentle contact.
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The dermatologist explained that dermographia is usually harmless but can be uncomfortable.
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She has dermographia that flares up during the summer.
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Many people with dermographia experience discomfort.
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She explained that dermographia can cause raised marks after minor irritation on the skin.
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When I scratched my arm, the dermographia made it become red and swollen.
Synonyms
128
2.7
A group of red spots on the skin caused by illness or allergy
5
3.3
A problem that affects the skin, causing redness or itching
4
3.0
A red, itchy area on the skin that may have spots or bumps
2
9.5
Itchy, raised red bumps on the skin that often appear after eating certain foods or taking medicine
1
3.6
A health problem that makes the skin red, sore, or itchy
1
8.8
A skin disease that causes spots or bumps that are usually not red
An itchy skin rash with raised red bumps often from an allergy
Surface Forms
Morphology
dermographia = dermo + graph + ia
The term is built from the combining forms dermo- and graph- with a medical noun ending, but the medical sense is specialized and not readily inferable for an average learner.
Etymology
Dermographia comes from Greek parts derma 'skin' and graphia 'writing', the same graph you see in autograph, so it literally means 'skin writing'. That's why it describes a skin condition where light scratches seem to 'write' red, raised lines on the skin.