arthritic

adjective

ar·​thrit·​ic är-ˈthri-tik 

1

: of, relating to, or affected with arthritis

arthritic hands

2

: seemingly affected with or caused by arthritis

an arthritic legal system

a story moving with arthritic slowness

arthritic noun

arthritically

är-ˈthri-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Examples of arthritic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There was no chair on the front porch, no arthritic old setter, and no Parker Invincible, either. —Joel M. Vance, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025

Some cases result in incomplete recovery, joint stiffness, or an arthritic toe. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 15 Sep. 2025

But no one really cared about pitch counts in that era, which could help explain why Koufax retired in the fall of ’66 at the age of 30, having pitched his last two seasons with an arthritic condition in a left elbow that Scully once remarked looked like a comma. —Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 8 Sep. 2025

Compared with Lali, who has symmetrical posture and fluid movements, Nini is like an elderly, arthritic human—crooked, rigid, languid, tense. —Tao Lin, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English artetyke, arthretyke, borrowed from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French artetyke, artetique, borrowed from Medieval Latin arteticus, arthreticus, going back to Latin arthrīticus, borrowed from Greek arthrītikós "of the joints, diseased in the joints," from arthrîtis "of the joints, (as a noun) gout" + -ikos -ic entry 1 — more at arthritis

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing arthritic

• anti-arthritic

Rhymes for arthritic

• ascitic
• dendritic
• enclitic
• ferritic
• granitic
• graphitic
• hamitic
• nephritic
• neritic
• pleuritic
• pruritic
• pyritic

Medical Definition

arthritic

1 of 2 adjective

ar·​thrit·​ic är-ˈthrit-ik 

: of, relating to, or affected with arthritis

arthritically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

arthritic

2 of 2 noun

: a person affected with arthritis