dropsical
/ˈdrɒpsɪk(ə)l
/adjective
Affected with or characteristic of dropsy; oedematous: enormous dropsical ankles figurative if Rubens’s women are ample, these are dropsical...
- This results in generalized oedema - or ‘dropsical effusion’ as it was called in the 1820s by Richard Bright, in his classic description of chronic nephritis (Bright's disease).
- She is enfeebled, dropsical, perpetually damp from cooking and cleaning, toothless, and refuses to wear false teeth (Janet remarks that Mother can never find comfortable teeth).
- His big and dropsical head, disproportionate to his emaciated body, leans against his mother's shoulder, his eyes blinking weakly.
Origin
Late 17th century: from dropsy1, replacing earlier hydropic(al), via Latin from Greek hudrōps 'dropsy'.