From chronical, from Old French cronike, from Latin chronicus, from Ancient Greek χρονικός, from χρόνος ("time").

• (British) IPA: /ˈkɹɒn.ɪk/
• (America, Canada) IPA: /ˈkɹɑ.nɪk/
• (Australia) IPA: /ˈkɹɔn.ɪk/

chronic

1. Of a problem, that continues over an extended period of time.

   chronic unemployment; chronic poverty; chronic anger; chronic life

   • 1980, Ruth Harriet Jacobs, Integrating Displaced Homemakers into the Economy, page 14:

     Peer group support is important to displaced homemakers. The Displaced Homemakers' Network has done excellent work in helping women see that their problems do not have to be chronic.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 8, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC ↗:

     It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.

2. (medicine) Prolonged or slow to heal.

   chronic cough; chronic headache; chronic illness

3. Of a person, suffering from an affliction that is prolonged or slow to heal.

   Chronic patients must learn to live with their condition.

4. Inveterate or habitual.

   He's a chronic smoker.

5. (slang) Very bad, awful.

   That concert was chronic.

6. (informal) Extremely serious.

   They left him in a chronic condition.

7. (slang) Good, great; "wicked".

   That was cool, chronic in fact.

• (that continues over an extended period of time) diuturnal, prolonged; see also Thesaurus:lasting
• (very bad, awful) abysmal, terrible; see also Thesaurus:bad
• (good, great) gnarly, splendid; see also Thesaurus:excellent

• (antonym(s) of “prolonged or slow to heal”): acute, transient

• French: chronique
• German: langanhaltend, andauernd, fortwährend, Langzeit-, dauerhaft, chronisch (scholarly)
• Italian: cronico
• Portuguese: crónico
• Russian: хрони́ческий
• Spanish: crónico

• French: chronique
• German: chronisch
• Italian: cronico
• Portuguese: crónico
• Russian: хрони́ческий
• Spanish: crónico

• German: chronisch
• Portuguese: crónico
• Russian: хрони́ческий
• Spanish: crónico

• French: chronique
• German: eingefleischt, unverbesserlich (derogatory)
• Italian: cronico
• Portuguese: crónico
• Spanish: crónico

chronic

1. (slang) Marijuana, typically of high quality.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:marijuana

   • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 103 ↗:

     Pimp had been kicking it with one of the young jawns hanging around the apartment. She was real young and had bumpy skin and slum rings on every finger. She told us she was living next door with her grandmother while her mother was in jail, and she took us up to the roof to smoke some chronic.

2. (medicine) A condition of extended duration, either continuous or marked by frequent recurrence. Sometimes implies a condition which worsens with each recurrence, though that is not inherent in the term.
3. A person who is chronic, such as a criminal reoffender or a person with chronic disease.
   • 2003, Philip Bean, Crime: Critical Concepts in Sociology, page 376:

     Of fifty-five boys scoring four or more, fifteen were chronic offenders (out of twenty-three chronics altogether) […]