Meanings
comparative more iatrogenic · superlative most iatrogenic
- injury; or other adverse outcome; injury; or other adverse outcomemedicineInduced by the words or actions of the physician or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedure.
Another group argues that the diagnosis is being overused and that many of the diagnosed cases are iatrogenic, or unintentionally shaped or caused by the practitioner
2003, Michael L. Raulin, Abnormal Psychology, Pearson Education, Inc., page 4942 more examples
These medicines addicted, sickened, or killed outright; they also could trigger chemical pneumonitis, or progressive lung injury, if inhaled during a bout of iatrogenic, or physician–triggered, vomiting.
2008, Harriet A. Washington, “Southern Discomfort”, in Medical Apartheid, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, page 42[Stewart] Brand never mentions any of this, even when—borrowing a term from medicine—he warns, elsewhere in the book, of “iatrogenic” disruptions, in which “a sloppy attempt to fix a problem makes the problem worse or adds a new one.”
2026 April 23, Alec Nevala-Lee, quoting Stewart Brand, “The Questionable Triumph of the ‘Baling Wire Hippies’”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveinduced by a physician's words or therapy (used especially of a complication resulting from treatment)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Catalan iatrogènic
- iatrogènicinduced by physician or medical treatment
Czech iatrogenní
- iatrogenníinduced by physician or medical treatment
Dutch iatrogeen
- iatrogeeninduced by physician or medical treatment
Finnish iatrogeeninen, hoidosta johtuva
- iatrogeenineninduced by physician or medical treatment
- hoidosta johtuvainduced by physician or medical treatment
French iatrogène, iatrogénique
- iatrogèneinduced by physician or medical treatment
- iatrogéniqueinduced by physician or medical treatment
German iatrogen, iatrogenisch
- iatrogeninduced by physician or medical treatment
- iatrogenischinduced by physician or medical treatment
- durch ärztliche Behandlung verursachtinduced by physician or medical treatment
Greek ιατρογενής
- ιατρογενής (iatrogenís)induced by physician or medical treatment
Icelandic af læknisvöldum (cf. læknir, vald), meðferðartengdur (cf. meðferð, tengdur)
- af læknisvöldum (cf. læknir, vald)induced by physician or medical treatment
- meðferðartengdur (cf. meðferð, tengdur)induced by physician or medical treatment
Irish iatraigineach
- iatraigineachinduced by physician or medical treatment
Italian iatrogenico, iatrogeno
- iatrogenicoinduced by physician or medical treatment
- iatrogenoinduced by physician or medical treatment
Malay iatrogenik
- iatrogenikinduced by physician or medical treatment
Norwegian Bokmål iatrogen
- iatrogeninduced by physician or medical treatment
Portuguese iatrogénico, iatrogênico
- iatrogénicoinduced by physician or medical treatment
- iatrogênicoinduced by physician or medical treatment
Russian ятроге́нный
- ятроге́нный (jatrogénnyj)induced by physician or medical treatment
Spanish iatrogénico
- iatrogénicoinduced by physician or medical treatment
Thai โรคหมอทำ
- โรคหมอทำinduced by physician or medical treatment
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
iatrogenic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iatrogenic
“iatrogenic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iatrogenic. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “iatrogenic,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iatrogenic.
Source: iatrogenic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.