Definition of "chronic" []

• Of long duration; continuing: chronic money problems. (adjective)
• Lasting for a long period of time or marked by frequent recurrence, as certain diseases: chronic colitis. (adjective)
• Subject to a habit or pattern of behavior for a long time: a chronic liar. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Many patients hate the name chronic fatigue syndrome because they think it trivializes the condition."
• "A chronic inflammation of the stomach is a very common affection and has many phases, but the term chronic gastritis is applied only to that species of inflammation occasioned and accompanied by irritation."
• "The term "chronic" is used to indicate that this particular type of leukemia generally progresses slowly compared with the other leukemias, according to the"