See Also: hectic(medicine)
hectic(dictionary)
hectic(dictionary)
hectic flush(medicine)

hectic (iou)



hectic adjective & noun. Also (earlier) etik. LME.
[Old French etique from late Latin hecticus from Greek hektikos habitual, hectic, consumptive, from hexis habit, state of body or mind: see -IC. Assim. to Latin, or mod. French hectique.]
A. adjective.
Medicine. Belonging to or symptomatic of the bodily state or condition; spec. characteristic of or associated with tuberculosis or other wasting disease; showing tubercular symptoms such as flushed cheeks and hot dry skin. LME.
hectic fever a fever (often of regular daily occurrence) which accompanies tuberculosis or other wasting diseases. hectic flush: see FLUSH noun2 4.
C. Kingsley A pretty, hectic girl of sixteen. E. Lyall The hectic beauty of one dying of consumption.
fig.
a. Wasting, consuming. rare. E17.
b. Flushed, bright red. E19.
F. King A high cheekbone hectic with rouge.
Habitual, constitutional. Only in M17.
(Now the usual sense.) Stirring, exciting, disturbing; characterized by a state of feverish excitement or activity. E20.
Godfrey Smith Long periods of boredom broken by hectic spells of chaos. A. Brookner The streets now hectic with traffic and confusion.
b. noun.
A hectic fever. LME.
b. fig. A consuming disturbance or obsession of the mind. LME.
A person affected with hectic fever. LME.
A hectic flush; gen. a flush, heightened colour. M18.
hectical adjective (arch.) E17.
hectically adverb M18.