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 Why attendance is the number to watch Even in a traditional school year, districts across Texas have been wrestling with chronic absenteeism since COVID-19. — Lina Ruiz october 8, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Oct. 2026 Mayor Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin on Thursday announced a new effort to chip away at the chronic delays in city payments to nonprofit organizations. — Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026 Address chronic absenteeism and declining enrollment by strengthening neighborhood schools, strategic consolidations with community input and adequate resources. — Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026 Some studies have demonstrated that sharing a bed with a dog may be helpful to people with chronic pain or PTSD. — Maggie Penman, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for chronic

Recent Examples of Synonyms for chronic

Adjective

The finance chiefs ended the meeting without a joint communique, underscoring persistent divisions among members over the Middle East conflict, trade imbalances, and Russia's war with Ukraine.

— Anniek Bao, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
When deployed in numbers, Archimedes units form a resilient defense grid, creating persistent protection for forces, facilities, and critical infrastructure.

— Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of persistent

Adjective

Concerns over a possible serial killer in Lansing, Michigan, have the Big Ten college town on edge.

— Kelsie Cairns, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
As always, Howerton is the cast MVP, with his elastic, expressive face selling all of probable-serial killer Dennis’s most hyperbolic reactions.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of serial

Adjective

One was to note that a habitual marijuana user had made some disastrous driving decisions.

— Peter Hessler, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Lowery pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter in addition to possession of a firearm by a felon in July, both Class D felonies with habitual offender status.

— Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of habitual

Adjective

The Beach Boys’ touring machine has been going nearly nonstop for the last 65 or so years, as Stamos and Christian Love noted in the intro, driven by Mike as one of pop music’s most inveterate and even seemingly compulsive tourers.

— Chris Willman, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
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

Definition of inveterate

Adjective

Related Stories Her five-year targets include regular publication of The A Report and a standing leaders’ forum built on The A Summit.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
Seven of the last 11 meetings have taken place at neutral sites — five SEC championship games and two national title games — and only four were regular-season games.

— AJC.com, AJC.com, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of regular

Adjective

With each new season, the series has expanded its audience base across both broadcast and streaming platforms, and this popularity has also translated into steady DVD sales.

— Ed Meza, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
Optimism among managers and above held steady at 59%, and 80% reported positive financial returns from AI, though only 28% called those returns strongly positive.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of steady

Adjective

Earlier, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller suggested that more interest rate rises may be needed to tackle stubborn inflation, which has stayed above the Fed's 2% target for more than five years.

— Hugh Leask,Sean Conlon, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026
The apparent disconnect between a recovery in oil supply and stubborn fuel prices has drawn attention from analysts.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of stubborn

Adjective

Smith grew up in a small town in rural northern Alabama and became addicted to drugs as a teenager, his lawyers said in court documents.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
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

Definition of addicted

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“Chronic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chronic. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of chronic

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