CFS
CFS (noun) means Chronic fatigue syndrome: a long-term illness whose central feature is severe exhaustion that is not relieved by rest and worsens after physical or mental exertion, usually accompanied by unrefreshing sleep, pain and difficulty concentrating. Example: “She was diagnosed with CFS after two years of unexplained exhaustion.”
How to Use CFS
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishUsually a long-term illness that causes crushing tiredness that rest does not fix.
Written uppercase for the illness, lowercase cfs for the flow unit.
Do not confuse CFS with CSF. CSF is cerebrospinal fluid, the liquid around the brain and spinal cord — an easy and consequential typo in medical writing.
Trace the full origin ↓Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
She was diagnosed with _____ after two years of unexplained exhaustion.
Etymology
An initialism; the expansion depends on context, most commonly chronic fatigue syndrome or cubic feet per second.
Synonyms
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between CFS and ME?
They largely describe the same illness under different names. ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) is the older term and is preferred by many patients because chronic fatigue syndrome sounds like ordinary tiredness. Health services increasingly write ME/CFS to cover both.
Is CFS the same as being tired all the time?
No. The defining feature is post-exertional malaise — a disproportionate crash in the hours or days after activity that ordinary rest does not fix. Ordinary tiredness improves with sleep; CFS characteristically does not.
What does cfs mean in measurements of water?
Cubic feet per second, the volume of water passing a point each second. It is the standard unit for river flow and dam discharge in the United States; metric countries use cubic metres per second instead.