dropsical

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   dated medicine: affected by or relating to dropsy, an abnormal accumulation of fluid in body tissues or cavities

   The physician described the patient's swollen legs as dropsical.

2. 2
   adj

   figurative: unnaturally swollen, bloated, or puffed up

   The frog's dropsical appearance made its eyes seem even larger.

From dropsy + -ical. Dropsy came through Old French idropisie from Late Latin hydropisis and Greek hydrops, 'dropsy,' based on hydor, 'water.' Dropsical was once a medical adjective for fluid retention and survives chiefly in historical or figurative descriptions of swelling.

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