What does tuberculously mean?
Tuberculously is a highly uncommon English adverb derived from tuberculous, the adjective meaning affected by or characteristic of tuberculosis. In standard use, it means in a manner associated with the disease, especially the progressive weakness and decline historically associated with pulmonary tuberculosis. Because it is an adverb, it normally modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb: a person may be described as tubercululously weak or a lesion as tuberculously affected. The word belongs chiefly to medical description and literary or historical prose; it is unsuitable as a lay diagnosis, and a direct reference to the disease is normally made with tuberculosis, a noun, or tuberculous, an adjective. Tuberculously is easily confused with those two forms because all are built from the same Latin-based stem, but they perform different grammatical jobs. The word is worth knowing chiefly as a precise, rather dated-sounding alternative to saying that something is affected by tuberculosis. Its rarity should not be mistaken for technical specialization alone: many modern writers simply use the more transparent adjective tuberculous.
adverbIn a manner characterized by or associated with tuberculosis.
- In a manner characterized by or associated with tuberculosis.
"The patient grew tuberculously weak during the final winter."
"The patient grew tuberculously weak during the final winter."
"The clinical note described the lesion as tubercululously affected."
A diagnosis is a noun, not an adverb: tuberculously describes a manner or condition, while tuberculosis names the disease.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tuberculously come from?
The English adverb was formed from tuberculous plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly. The adjective comes through Latin tuberculōsus, from tuberculum, “a small swelling or tubercle,” a diminutive of tuber, “swelling.” Related English forms include tubercle, tuberculosis, and tuberculoid, all reflecting the same Latin root.
How tuberculously is actually used
Rare and generally formal, medical, historical, or literary. Modern writers often prefer the more transparent adjective tuberculous or the noun tuberculosis.
Easily confused with tuberculously
Tuberculously is an adverb describing a manner or condition, whereas tuberculous is an adjective meaning affected by or characteristic of tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis is the noun naming the disease, whereas tuberculously is the adverb derived from the related adjective tuberculous.