What does recrudesce mean?
Recrudesce means to become active or severe again after a period of decline, interruption, or apparent resolution. The word is especially appropriate for a problem, symptom, conflict, or form of antisocial behavior that returns after things had seemed to improve. It carries a notably unfavorable and often clinical or historical tone, suggesting that the renewed trouble is not merely a routine recurrence but a resurgence of something previously diminished. For example, a disease may recrudesce after treatment, or violence may recrudesce after a period of peace. Although less common in everyday conversation than recur, reappear, or return, recrudesce offers a precise and expressive alternative in formal writing. Its etymology reflects the idea of something becoming raw or active again, which helps explain its association with wounds, symptoms, and previously suppressed difficulties returning.
verbTo become active or severe again, especially after a period of decline or apparent improvement. It is often used of problems, conflicts, symptoms, or undesirable conditions.
- To become active or severe again after a period of decline, remission, or apparent resolution.
"After months of relative calm, the dispute recrudesced and tensions rose across the region."
"The disease recrudesced shortly after the medication was discontinued."
"As negotiations stalled, old tensions recrudesced throughout the country."
Recrudesce captures the return of something that seemed to be fading—not necessarily a new outbreak, but the resurgence of an old trouble.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does recrudesce come from?
The word comes from Latin recrudescere, formed from re- and crudescere, meaning to become raw or grow worse. In English it developed in a medical context for the return or worsening of symptoms after an improvement. Its Latin relatives include crude, from the same ancestral root, and the English derivative recrudescence, which names a renewed outbreak or recurrence.
Related word forms
How recrudesce is actually used
This is a formal word with a slightly clinical or historical tone. It is especially common in discussions of disease, conflict, crime, and social or political problems, and it generally implies a recurrence that is troubling or persistent.
Easily confused with recrudesce
Recrudesce means to become active or severe again, especially after a decline, whereas recurse means to occur repeatedly or return.