congenital

Word family

Related topics: Illness & disability

con·gen·i·tal /kənˈdʒenətl/ adjectiveadj [usually before noun]

1 MIa congenital medical condition or disease has affected someone since they were born 〔病症等〕先天的

congenital abnormalities

先天畸形

a congenital defect

先天性缺陷

2 CHARACTER/PERSONALITYa congenital quality is one that has always been part of your character and is unlikely to change 〔特性〕生就的，与生俱来的

He’s a congenital liar.

他生来就爱说谎。

her congenital inability to make decisions

她天生的优柔寡断

—congenitally adverbadv

Examples from the Corpus

congenital• The congenital apathetic inefficiency bred by the regime as the best way of keeping people down had also delayed the demolition process.• a congenital birth defect• Admittedly, the back condition responsible is partly congenital, but that can not disguise the root cause, namely over-use.• a rare congenital disorder• The swop did not come to light until Arlena, who suffered from a congenital heart defect, had to undergo surgery.• Now her congenital hip problem left the number two guard spot wide open for next year.• This contrasts with developmental dyslexia which is an impairment, possibly congenital, in learning to read in the first place.• The city seems to have a congenital inferiority complex.• Instead, she became a congenital role model.• There was that Fall, back there, in the Garden, and we have all been congenital sinners ever sInce.• Whether this was congenital, stemmed from growing up around a grocery store, or nerve induced, she sometimes wondered.

congenital liar• A day didn't pass now during which it failed to occur to her that she had borne two congenital liars.• Safire, who ungentlemanly called Hillary a congenital liar, knows something of which he speaks.• Of course, in that environment, being a congenital liar was small potatoes.

Origin congenital

(1700-1800) Latin congenitus, from com- ( → COM-) + genitus (past participle of gignere; → GENITAL)

con·gen·i·tal adjectiveadj

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus