congenital
/kənˈdʒɛnɪt(ə)l
/adjective
1(Of a disease or physical abnormality) present from birth: a congenital malformation of the heart...
- Of the 50 patients, 23 belonging to the paediatric age group had congenital diseases.
- Family history should be obtained to evaluate the risk of congenital disease.
- Women with diabetes, renal disease, autoimmune disease, and congenital heart disease need intensive surveillance.
Synonyms
inborn, inherited, hereditary, in the blood, in the family, innate, inbred, constitutional, built-in, inbuilt, ingrown, natural, native, original, inherent, unlearned, instinctual, deep-rooted, deep-seated
rare connate, connatural
1.1(Of a person) having a particular trait from birth or by firmly established habit: a congenital liar...
- Even for a congenital hypocrite, he hit a high watermark this week.
- That I have a different opinion than you doesn't mean you get to treat my like a congenital idiot.
- Only libraries and librarians can make reading a congenital habit.
Synonyms
inveterate, compulsive, persistent, chronic, regular, pathological, established, long-established, long-standing, hardened, confirmed, committed, seasoned, habitual, obsessive, obsessional;
incurable, incorrigible, irredeemable, unreformable, hopeless;
unashamed, shameless, unrepentant;
dyed-in-the-wool, thoroughgoing, thorough, utter, complete
Derivatives
congenitally
/ adverb ...- I confess that I am a huge, huge fan of the pop single, because I think pop is a genre that is congenitally predisposed to bands and artists that have one - but only one - shining moment of greatness in them.
- It stands to reason, even to a congenitally illogical punter like me, that if you have more race meetings in your vicinity then you are more likely to go racing, because it's human nature to want to avoid travelling too far on a day out.
- In a double twist of fate, she also suffers from congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, which means the bottom two chambers in her heart responsible for pumping blood to the lungs and the body have swapped round.
Origin
Late 18th century: from Latin congenitus, from con- 'together' + genitus (past participle of gignere 'beget') + -al.