sclerotic

comparative more sclerotic · superlative most sclerotic

1. anatomyOf or relating to the sclera of the eye.

   Synonyms: scleral

2. anatomyHaving or relating to sclerosis; hardened.

   The outer wood exposed to the air may become carbonaceous due to the interaction of sclerotic mycelium and the wood.

   1920, Clarence Ritchie Phipps, Plant Lice Injurious to Apple Orchards

3. figurativelyHard and insular; resistant to change.

   sclerotic bureaucracy

   2 more examples

   Most state parties--Democrat or Republican--are sclerotic and dutiful, and little help to local candidates.

   2018, Mark Oppenheimer, “Politico”, in How to Turn a Red State Purple

   His funeral ends the era of first generation leaders in post-colonial Asia, in fact in the world, with the exception of a few sclerotic kleptocrats mostly in Africa.

   2015 March 30, “Lee Kuan Yew’s Enigma: Authoritarian Yet a Kind of Democrat”, in CSIS

4. biologyOf or relating to sclerotium.

plural sclerotics

1. anatomySynonym of sclera.

   An icteric discoloration of the sclerotic — a quite common symptom in xanthopia from arsenical poisoning — is very seldom observed.

   1883, Louis Lewin, The Untoward Effects of Drugs, page 98

   1 more example

   In front, this membrane is continuous with the cornea by direct continuity of tissue; but the opaque sclerotic overlaps it rather more on the outer than upon its inner surface.

   1859, Henry Gray, Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical, page 555

   Synonyms: sclera