hectic
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈhɛktɪk/
Adjective

hectic

  1. (obsolete) Pertaining to bodily reactions characterised by flushed or dry skin.
    hectic fever; a hectic patient
    • 1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man, volume 3, chapter 1
      She never complained, but sleep and appetite fled from her, a slow fever preyed on her veins, her colour was hectic, and she often wept in secret [...]
  2. Very busy with activity and confusion; feverish.
    The city center is so hectic at 8 in the morning that I go to work an hour beforehand to avoid the crowds
Synonyms Translations Translations Noun

hectic (plural hectics)

  1. (obsolete) A hectic fever.
    • circa 1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 3,
      […] Do it, England;
      For like the hectic in my blood he rages,
      And thou must cure me.
  2. (obsolete) A flush like one produced by such a fever.
    • 1768, Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, London: T. Becket & P.A. De Hondt, Volume 1, p. 17,
      The poor Franciscan made no reply: a hectic of a moment pass’d across his cheek, but could not tarry […]
    • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.147:
      For still he lay, and on his thin worn cheek / A purple hectic played like dying day / On the snow-tops of distant hills […]



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