What does asthmatical mean?
"Asthmatical" is an archaic English adjective meaning suffering from asthma, or relating to the wheezing and laboured breathing that characterise the condition. It functioned exactly as its modern counterpart "asthmatic" does today: an eighteenth- or nineteenth-century physician might describe a patient as "asthmatical," or a novelist might give an elderly character an "asthmatical" cough. Formed by attaching the suffix -ical to the noun "asthma," it follows a common pattern of English word formation that has since fallen out of favour, leaving the shorter form to carry the meaning alone. The word is no longer part of living usage and appears mainly in historical medical writing and literature, but it remains a legitimate dictionary entry and a reminder of how English adjectives once favoured fuller, Latinate endings. Anyone encountering it in older texts can safely read it simply as an elaborate way of saying "asthmatic."
adjectiveRelating to or suffering from asthma; affected with wheezing or difficulty of breathing characteristic of the condition.
- Of a person or animal: suffering from or prone to asthma; wheezy or short of breath.
- Relating to, resembling, or characteristic of asthma.
"The old dog had grown asthmatical in its later years, wheezing after the shortest walk."
"Her grandfather was an asthmatical man who kept his inhaler close at hand long before such devices were common."
"The asthmatical wheeze in his voice made the doctor suspect a chronic respiratory condition."
"Asthmatical" is a perfectly real English word — it just went out of fashion so thoroughly that most dictionaries now treat it as a historical curiosity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of asthmatical
"Asthmatical" derives from "asthma," which entered English from Latin "asthma" and ultimately from Greek "asthma" (ἆσθμα), meaning "a panting, laboured breathing." The adjective was formed with the suffix -ical, producing a longer variant alongside the simpler "asthmatic." Both forms arose in the early modern period, but "asthmatic" became the standard term while "asthmatical" gradually fell into obsolescence.
Related word forms
How asthmatical is actually used
"Asthmatical" is now rare and considered obsolete or archaic in both British and American English; writers should use "asthmatic" instead. It survives chiefly in historical texts and older literature.
Easily confused with asthmatical
"Asthmatic" is the standard modern adjective and noun for anything relating to asthma, while "asthmatical" is an older, largely obsolete variant of the same meaning.