cachexia
1 synonym for cachexia, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — Cachexia is a severe loss of muscle and body weight brought on by an ongoing, chronic illness.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
cachexy
How to use cachexia
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
cancer cachexia
cardiac cachexia
signs of cachexia
cachexia syndrome
Cachexia is a specialist medical term used mainly in clinical and scientific writing.
Etymology
Cachexia comes from Late Latin cachexia, or French cachexie, which in turn goes back to Ancient Greek kakhexia. That Greek word combined kakos, meaning bad or injurious, with hexis, meaning a state of the body.
Full origin of cachexia →Frequently asked questions
What is cachexia?
Cachexia is a severe wasting of muscle and body weight that accompanies a chronic illness.
What causes cachexia?
It develops alongside an ongoing chronic disease, rather than from diet or lifestyle alone.
Is cachexia the same as being underweight?
No, cachexia specifically involves wasting linked to chronic illness, not simply having a low body weight.
