congenital

adjective con·gen·i·tal \ kən-ˈje-nə-tᵊl , kän- \

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

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Examples: congenital in a Sentence

Definition of congenital

1 a : existing at or dating from birth

congenital deafness

b : constituting an essential characteristic : inherent

congenital fear of snakes

c : acquired during development in the uterus and not through heredity

congenital syphilis

2 : being such by nature

a congenital liar

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congenitally

play \kən-ˈje-nə-tᵊl-ē, kän-\ adverb

See congenital defined for English-language learners

See congenital defined for kids

Examples of congenital in a Sentence

The irregularity in my backbone is probably congenital.
a congenital liar who couldn't speak the truth if his life depended on it

Recent Examples of congenital from the Web

Participants in the small study included mothers and fathers of children who underwent cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) at less than 6 months of age.

— erica sood, phd, Philly.com, "Fathers of seriously ill children experience stress differently than mothers," 27 June 2018
Lucito, 6, has been diagnosed with a type of congenital heart disease.

— jacqueline charles, miamiherald, "These Haitian kids need surgery in another country. Getting a passport is the hard part," 22 June 2018
Rocco, a dog, died on a flight Jan. 21 from a cardiac abnormality due to congenital heart disease, according to the medical exam.

— ben mutzabaugh and bart jansen, USA TODAY, "United apologizes: Flier's dog died after put in overhead bin," 13 Mar. 2018
After all, Gabe, who has major congenital heart defects, has been cared for at Children's Hospital since the day he was born.

— bill glauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Kenosha boy with heart defects to visit Capitol Hill to advocate for Medicaid and children's health," 22 June 2018
His youngest daughter, 2, has a congenital heart defect, according to the lawsuit.

— liz robbins, New York Times, "Judge Stops Deportation of a New York Pizza Delivery Man," 9 June 2018
On Christmas Day six years ago, Owen’s family was rocked by tragedy when his father, John Toland, died suddenly of a congenital heart defect at the age of 49.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Lincoln-Sudbury’s Owen Toland exemplifies the heart and soul of lacrosse," 5 June 2018
But in 2016, according to publicly available data, the hospital did not add a single patient with a congenital heart defect to its transplant waiting list; meanwhile, other high-risk patients, such as Hogan, were removed from the list.

— mike hixenbaugh/houston chronicle, Houston Chronicle, "As wait for new heart got longer, patient grew sicker," 15 May 2018
The valve had been installed in 1997 after he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.

— elizabeth zwirz, Fox News, "Arnold Schwarzenegger, post-heart surgery, says he feels 'much better'," 12 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'congenital.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of congenital

Latin congenitus, from com- + genitus, past participle of gignere to bring forth — more at kin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1796

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

congenital Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of congenital

innate, inborn, inbred, congenital, hereditary mean not acquired after birth. innate applies to qualities or characteristics that are part of one's inner essential nature.

- an innate sense of fair play

inborn suggests a quality or tendency either actually present at birth or so marked and deep-seated as to seem so.

- her inborn love of nature

inbred suggests something either acquired from parents by heredity or so deeply rooted and ingrained as to seem acquired in that way.

- inbred political loyalties

congenital and hereditary refer to what is acquired before or at birth, the former to things acquired during fetal development and the latter to things transmitted from one's ancestors.