chronically
/ˈkrɒnɪk(ə)li
/adverb [usually as submodifier]
1(In relation to illness) in a persistent and recurring way: families dealing with a chronically ill child...
- There were mounting medical bills for his wife, who was chronically sick.
- It's important to know which conditions can mimic psychotic illness but should be treated differently, both acutely and chronically.
- Blood pressure can notoriously come on and present itself when persons have strokes or heart attacks as a result of a chronically raised pressure.
1.1In a long-lasting or habitual and problematic way: the office is chronically understaffed a mission to create jobs for the chronically unemployed...
- Broad swathes of the country's industrial heartland are now chronically short of electricity.
- We continue to observe pockets of defaults in either chronically or newly ailing industrial sectors.
- The law enables companies with chronically underfunded plans to receive an implicit subsidy from companies with sound plans.
1.2British informal To a very great extent; extremely: chronically stupid drivers she was chronically indecisive...
- On March 18, the Allies suffered a chronically embarrassing naval disaster.
- Being chronically food-aware has warped us to a greater or lesser extent (can anyone have a totally guilt-free helping of tiramisu?).
- Of all the women, the most interesting is the chronically grouchy Cristina, "an aggressive little witch," as one patient calls her.