Pathological

/ˌpæθəˈlɑːdʒɪkəl/

adjectiveC1

Definition

Pathological means connected to a disease or sickness, often used in medicine to describe problems inside the body or mind. It can also describe actions or feelings that are not normal and are caused by a mental illness or strong emotional problem.

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See It in Action

Make It Stick

✓Think of "pathological" like "sick" or "ill," but for deeper problems inside the body or mind, not just feeling bad like a cold
✓Picture a doctor looking at cells under a microscope to find signs of disease—that is studying something pathological
✓It’s the feeling when someone does something again and again, even if it is bad for them, like pathological lying (always lying)
✓Sounds like "PATH-o-LOJ-i-cal" → imagine a path (road) leading to a place where something is wrong or unhealthy
✓Think of stories where a character has a problem that controls their actions, like a pathological fear of something
✓NOT like "normal" (healthy or usual), pathological means something is wrong or unusual because of illness
✓NOT like "temporary" feelings or actions, pathological often means long-lasting or deeply rooted problems
✓NOT like "accident" or "random," pathological means caused by a clear disease or mental issue

Try Other Words

•Medical: related to health and disease (Use when talking about health but not necessarily serious or abnormal)
•Diseased: affected by disease (Use when the problem is physical and harmful)
•Compulsive: doing something again and again without control (Use when talking about behavior that is hard to stop)
•Irrational: not logical or reasonable (Use when describing thoughts or feelings that don’t make sense)

Unboxing

•Prefix: "patho-" means disease or suffering
•Root: "log" comes from Greek "logos," meaning study or word
•Suffix: "-ical" turns the word into an adjective meaning "related to"
•Origin: From Greek "pathologikos," meaning related to the study of disease
•First used in English in the early 1600s in medical contexts
•Now used both in medicine and to describe strong, abnormal behaviors or feelings

Reflect & Connect

•How can understanding the word pathological help you recognize when a problem is serious and needs medical or psychological help?

•Can you think of behaviors in everyday life that might be called pathological? How would that change how we treat or understand those behaviors?

Fill in the blanks

1.The doctor examined the tissue because there were signs of pathological ___ inside the body.

2.When someone is a pathological liar, they lie ___ even when it causes problems.

3.Pathological fear is different from normal fear because it is ___ and hard to control.

4.The scientist studied pathological changes caused by the ___ in the cells.

5.People with pathological behavior often need ___ help to change their actions.

6.Unlike normal worries, pathological jealousy can ___ relationships deeply.

7.Pathological problems usually come from inside the body or mind, not from ___ causes.

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