Meanings
plural scleroses
- countableuncountablemedicineThe abnormal hardening of body tissues, such as an artery; the appearance of hardenings, indurations, lesions, nodules.
The “Euphoria” and “Grey’s Anatomy” actor announced on Thursday that he has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
2025 April 10, Dan Heching, “Eric Dane shares that he has been diagnosed with ALS”, in CNNSynonyms: hardening, fibrosis, induration
- countableuncountableInability to create change or excessive resistance to change.
Suppressing dissent dooms the society to sclerosis, decline and collapse.
2019 December 6, Charles Hugh Smith, Suppressing Dissent Guarantees Disorder and Collapse
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe abnormal hardening of body tissues, such as an artery; the appearance of hardenings, indurations, lesions, nodules.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekσκλήρωσις“hardening”
- Englishsclerosis
From Ancient Greek σκλήρωσις (sklḗrōsis, “hardening”), from σκληρόω (sklēróō, “to harden”), from σκληρός (sklērós, “hard”); by surface analysis, sclero- + -osis.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَصَلُّب
- تَصَلُّب (taṣallub)abnormal hardening of body tissues
Bulgarian склероза
- склероза (skleroza)abnormal hardening of body tissues
Catalan esclerosi
- esclerosiabnormal hardening of body tissues
Chinese Mandarin 硬化, 硬化症
- 硬化 (yìnghuà)abnormal hardening of body tissues
- 硬化症 (yìnghuàzhèng)abnormal hardening of body tissues
Czech skleróza, kornatění
- sklerózaabnormal hardening of body tissues
- kornatěníabnormal hardening of body tissues
Danish sklerose, sclerose
- skleroseabnormal hardening of body tissues
- scleroseabnormal hardening of body tissues
Dutch sclerose
- scleroseabnormal hardening of body tissues
Estonian skleroos, kõvastus
- skleroosabnormal hardening of body tissues
- kõvastusabnormal hardening of body tissues
Finnish kovettuminen
- kovettuminenabnormal hardening of body tissues
French sclérose
- scléroseabnormal hardening of body tissues
German Sklerose
- Skleroseabnormal hardening of body tissues
Hungarian szklerózis, elmeszesedés
- szklerózisabnormal hardening of body tissues
- elmeszesedésabnormal hardening of body tissues
Icelandic hersli, sigg
- hersliabnormal hardening of body tissues
- siggabnormal hardening of body tissues
Italian sclerosi
- sclerosiabnormal hardening of body tissues
Japanese 硬化, 硬化症
- 硬化 (kōka)abnormal hardening of body tissues
- 硬化症 (kōkashō)abnormal hardening of body tissues
Korean 경화, 경화증
- 경화 (gyeonghwa)abnormal hardening of body tissues
- 경화증 (gyeonghwajeung)abnormal hardening of body tissues
Latin sclērōsis
- sclērōsisabnormal hardening of body tissues
Latvian skleroze
- sklerozeabnormal hardening of body tissues
Lithuanian sklerozė
- sklerozėabnormal hardening of body tissues
Norwegian Bokmål sklerose
- skleroseabnormal hardening of body tissues
Polish stwardnienie, skleroza
- stwardnienieabnormal hardening of body tissues
- sklerozaabnormal hardening of body tissues
Portuguese esclerose
- escleroseabnormal hardening of body tissues
Romanian scleroză
- sclerozăabnormal hardening of body tissues
Russian склеро́з
- склеро́з (skleróz)abnormal hardening of body tissues
Slovak skleróza, skostnatenie
- sklerózaabnormal hardening of body tissues
- skostnatenieabnormal hardening of body tissues
Spanish esclerosis
- esclerosisabnormal hardening of body tissues
Swedish skleros
- sklerosabnormal hardening of body tissues
Turkish skleroz
- sklerozabnormal hardening of body tissues
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sclerosis
Cite this entry
sclerosis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sclerosis
“sclerosis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sclerosis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sclerosis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sclerosis.
Source: sclerosis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.