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A.Word.A.Day--valetudinarian

valetudinarian (val-i-too-duh-NAYR-ee-uhn, -tyood-) noun

A sickly or weak person, especially one who is constantly and morbidly concerned with his or her health.

adjective

1. Chronically ailing; sickly.

2. Constantly and morbidly concerned with one's health.

[From Latin valetudinarius, from valetudo, valetudin-, state of health, from valere, to be strong or well.]

"But it wasn't over yet, and now this valetudinarian native son stood in Monkey Park beside the locks shadowed with the autumn green of the banked earth and asked himself whether all this was a justified expense of his limited energy." Bellow, Saul, By the St. Lawrence, Esquire, Jul 1, 1995.

This week's theme: words to describe people.

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