Meanings
comparative more valetudinary · superlative most valetudinary
- obsoleteSickly, infirm, valetudinarian.
"His Majesty began to become valetudinary; and the hypochondria which tormented him rendered his humor very melancholy.
1727, Thomas Carlyle, History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. VI. (of XXI.)1 more example
It produces a weak valetudinary state of body, attended by all those horrid disorders, and yet more horrid methods of cure, which are the result of luxury on the one hand, and the weak and ridiculous efforts of human art on the other.
1887, Edmund Burke, The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12)
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveof or relating to or characteristic of a person who is a valetudinarian
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinvalētūdō
- Latinvalētūdin-
- Englishvaletudinary
From Latin valētūdin- + -ary, from oblique stem of Latin valētūdō, from valeō + -tūdō. By surface analysis, valetude + -arian. Doublet of valetudinarious.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
valetudinary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valetudinary
“valetudinary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valetudinary. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “valetudinary,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valetudinary.
Source: valetudinary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.