phthisis
Lung-wasting Victorian ailment
Phthisis is an old medical term for tuberculosis, especially pulmonary tuberculosis—the wasting disease that consumed patients from within.
The word survives mainly in historical texts and period fiction: She died of phthisis at twenty-three.
The spelling preserves its Greek origins, making it one of English's more forbidding letter combinations.
Of a prim era
- KeatsEnglish Romantic poet
- ChopinPolish Romantic pianist-composer
- BrontëLiterary sisters' surname
- sanatoriumFacility for prolonged recovery
rest cure · sea air · invalid · sickbed · death sentence · 19th century · tragic · La Bohème
Tuberculosis-causing microorganism
- pulmonaryOf the lungs
- infectiousAble to spread disease
- sanatoriumFacility for prolonged recovery
- sputumExpelled lung mucus
coughing · night sweats · fever · contagious · epidemic · latent · active · chest pain
Extreme bodily thinness
- cachexiaSevere illness-induced wasting
- atrophyWasting from disuse
- declineDecrease or refuse
- witheringDrying and declining
deterioration · languishing · fading · pining · enfeeblement · shriveling · waning · weakness
Favoring reform and innovation
- incurableCannot be healed
- lingeringRemaining beyond expected duration
- protractedExtended beyond normal duration
- relapsingReturning to worse state
persistent · long-lasting · remission · unremitting · drawn-out · gradual · insidious · advancing
Victorian
Of a prim era
sanatorium · rest cure · sea air · invalid · sickbed · death sentence · 19th century · tragic · La Bohème
Koch's bacillus
Tuberculosis-causing microorganism
- pulmonaryOf the lungs
- infectiousAble to spread disease
- sanatoriumFacility for prolonged recovery
sputum · coughing · night sweats · fever · contagious · epidemic · latent · active · chest pain · isolation
emaciation
Extreme bodily thinness
withering · deterioration · languishing · fading · pining · enfeeblement · shriveling · waning · weakness · frailty
progressive
Favoring reform and innovation
- incurableCannot be healed
- lingeringRemaining beyond expected duration
- protractedExtended beyond normal duration
relapsing · persistent · long-lasting · remission · unremitting · drawn-out · gradual · insidious · advancing · terminal
phthisisrecovery
Regaining what was lost
remission · convalescence · recuperation · cure · healing
phthisisrobust health
Excellent physical condition
vigor · vitality · flourishing · thriving · plethora