failure to thrive

noun

Poor physical growth or level of weight, relative to one's age peers.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounfailure to thrive (usually uncountable, plural failures to thrive)

plural failures to thrive

  1. uncountableusuallymedicinePoor physical growth or level of weight, relative to one's age peers.
  2. uncountableusuallychiefly geriatricsmedicineAbnormal weight loss, malaise.
  3. uncountableusuallyUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see failure, thrive.

Translations

French retard de croissance
  • retard de croissancepediatrics
German Gedeihstörung, Gedeihstörung
  • Gedeihstörungadult medicine
  • Gedeihstörungpediatrics
Cite this entry
APA

failure to thrive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/failure%20to%20thrive

MLA

“failure to thrive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/failure%20to%20thrive. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “failure to thrive,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/failure%20to%20thrive.

Source: failure to thrive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.