recrudescence
noun
Did you know?
Recrudescence comes from the Latin verb recrudescere, meaning “to become raw again” (used, for example, of wounds). Ultimately, it can be traced back to the Latin word crudus, meaning “raw” (If you suspect that crude also comes from crudus, you are correct; another well-known descendant is cruel). In its literal, medical sense, recrudescence refers to a renewed outbreak of a disease. In extended use, it most often describes the return of an undesirable condition, such as a war or a plague, or the return of an undesirable idea.
Examples of recrudescence in a Sentence
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2024
Although the most powerful nations, including the U.S., have made intermittently successful efforts to stem the loss of tax revenue to offshore shelters, Abrahamian identifies these dynamics as the recrudescence of colonial extraction.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
With that comes the prerogative to employ medieval cruelties – recrudescences from pre-modern empire redeployed in the present.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023
The coverage of Italy’s recent elections in the American press has portrayed the success of Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party as a sudden and dangerous recrudescence of Italy’s fascist past.
—Alexander Stille, The New Republic, 4 Oct. 2022
This is also evident in the recrudescence of the Little House on the Prairie look for younger women, a style that has historically been a favorite among the chronically abstinent.
—Cintra Wilson, The New York Review of Books, 11 Feb. 2020
All this will lead to a recrudescence of interesting political theory.
—The Economist, 19 June 2019
Only this wise, collegial institution prevents a recrudescence of World War II.
—Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, 10 Apr. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Recrudescence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recrudescence. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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recrudescence
noun
Medical Definition
recrudescence
noun
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