as in outpatients
a person who stays for one or more nights in a hospital for medical treatment
—often used before another noun
inpatient surgery It was inpatient treatment that required a lengthy hospital stay.
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Recent Examples of inpatients
The hospital shuttered its emergency department on Wednesday, and then worked to transfer its inpatients to other hospitals by the end of the day Friday.
—
Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 1 Apr. 2026
In that time, the number of people admitted to hospitals in the state as inpatients due to heat increased 60%, from 990 to 1,578.
—Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 29 Sep. 2025
Outpatient services at the neighboring hospital were suspended and around 3,500 inpatients were evacuated, per the Post.
—Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 1 Apr. 2026
In that time, the number of people admitted to hospitals in the state as inpatients due to heat increased 60%, from 990 to 1,578.
—Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 29 Sep. 2025
Outpatient services at the neighboring hospital were suspended and around 3,500 inpatients were evacuated, per the Post.
—Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inpatients
Noun
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The study also found that the number of children aged fiveto 17 who were prescribed leucovorin as outpatients increased by 71 percent.—
Sara Novak,
Scientific American,
5 Mar. 2026
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When people were also treated with a long-acting form of an opioid-blocking medication called naltrexone, relapse rates dropped across all settings — to 59% after short-term inpatient care, 46% after long-term inpatient care and 38% for those treated as outpatients.—
Emma Fenske,
The Conversation,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Brazilian nonprofit NoHarm’s prescription-review tool, deployed across 200+ hospitals and screening millions of prescriptions monthly, illustrates both the value at stake and the scale at which a single failure mode would harm patients.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Fortune,
2 May 2026
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Paula Sussex, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said there were concerns that the health service was letting patients down.—
Sophie Tanno,
CNN Money,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Inpatients.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inpatients. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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