CHRONIC Synonyms: 41 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'chronic' distinct from other similar adjectives?

The words confirmed and inveterate are common synonyms of chronic . While all three words mean "firmly established," chronic suggests something that is persistent or endlessly recurrent and troublesome. // a chronic complainer

Q: When can 'confirmed' be used instead of 'chronic'?

The words confirmed and chronic are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, confirmed implies a growing stronger and firmer with time so as to resist change or reform. // a confirmed bachelor

Q: When could 'inveterate' be used to replace 'chronic'?

While the synonyms inveterate and chronic are close in meaning, inveterate applies to a habit, attitude, or feeling of such long existence as to be practically ineradicable or unalterable. // an inveterate smoker

chronic

adjective

ˈkrä-nik

Definition of chronic

as in persistent

being such by habit and not likely to change a chronic smoker who has quit—many, many times

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How is the word chronic distinct from other similar adjectives?

The words confirmed and inveterate are common synonyms of chronic. While all three words mean "firmly established," chronic suggests something that is persistent or endlessly recurrent and troublesome.

a chronic complainer

When can confirmed be used instead of chronic?

The words confirmed and chronic are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, confirmed implies a growing stronger and firmer with time so as to resist change or reform.

a confirmed bachelor

When could inveterate be used to replace chronic?

While the synonyms inveterate and chronic are close in meaning, inveterate applies to a habit, attitude, or feeling of such long existence as to be practically ineradicable or unalterable.

an inveterate smoker

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of chronic Medicare generally does not cover the expenses associated with long-term care, which includes medical and nonmedical care for people with chronic illnesses or disability. — Lorie Konish, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026 Russia’s satellite industry has long suffered from chronic underfunding, corruption, production bottlenecks, and reliability problems. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 2 Sep. 2026 Underlying conditions that contribute to higher risk of severe COVID-19 include but are not limited to cancer, asthma, chronic lung disease, diabetes, heart conditions, mental health conditions and pregnancy. — Ava Tsapatsaris, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026 High blood sugar and insulin resistance can alter the brain before problems are noticeable, and chronic inflammation, poor sleep, and a sedentary lifestyle can also negatively affect cognitive aging. — Allison Forsyth, HEALTH, 2 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for chronic

Recent Examples of Synonyms for chronic

Adjective

This reality, intensified by persistent inflation, is why the 60/30/10 budgeting method has been rising in popularity.

— Becca Stanek, TheWeek, 7 Sep. 2026
Now, experts fear a persistent failure is colliding with a rapid expansion of immigration enforcement — one pushed to deliver record numbers of arrests, increasingly aided by state and local police and operating with fewer internal checks.

— María Luisa Paúl, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of persistent

Adjective

Nearly a decade after a series of killings, the trial for the man prosecutors accuse of being the Indian Creek serial killer got underway Thursday morning in Jackson County Circuit Court in downtown Kansas City.

— Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026
Why is Fredrick Demond Scott called the 'Indian Creek serial killer'?

— Ahmed Jawadi, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of serial

Adjective

Subsequent research actually backed him up, finding that habitual calculator use before students had internalized basic arithmetic weakened their mental fluency and fact retrieval.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
But her kindly and supportive cop boyfriend Nick (Brandon Perea) rightly insists that the duo should perhaps move out of the house when Gemma’s habitual nightmares intensify.

— Tomris Laffly, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of habitual

Adjective

The cast features not just the creator, who makes the Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype her own as ukulele troubadour Lulu, but also a pre-Bridgerton Jonathan Bailey in the wild role of an inveterate womanizer.

— Judy Berman, Time, 11 Aug. 2026
In the guest section, apparently at the invitation of one of the liberal Justices, sat Robert De Niro, an inveterate Trump critic.

— Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of inveterate

Adjective

The first-place Sox (72-65) head into the final month of the regular season with a three-game lead over the second-place Cleveland Guardians (69-68), who were off on Monday.

— LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026
Aesha sends Kayley to deal with it, but a regular sink plunger can’t do the job — Nathan has to suction the stuff out with the wet vacuum.

— Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of regular

Adjective

American gasoline prices have risen about 38 percent over the course of the war, but the country’s economic growth rate remains steady.

— JAMES F. JEFFREY, Foreign Affairs, 3 Sep. 2026
In recent years, Steinem had expanded her community in New York, hosting a steady stream of gatherings of women in her living room.

— Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of steady

Adjective

In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent for designing their apps in ways that caused children to become addicted and suffer mental-health harms.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 1 Sep. 2026
And Elwood was battling his own demons, having become addicted to opioids prescribed after a hip operation.

— Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of addicted

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“Chronic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chronic. Accessed 7 Sep. 2026.

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