adj · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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1
adj
Meaning 1
Of or relating to one of the diseases known as leprosy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1748, Philip Luckombe, A Tour Through Ireland, London: T. Lowndes & Son, 1783, Journey the Fourth, p. 324, [...] a dissenting minister [...] came to this well, over-run with leprous eruptions on the skin, which had rendered his joints so rigid, that he could neither hold his bridle, nor feed himself [...]
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: lepric, leproid, lazar, lazarlike
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: leprosed, leprosied
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Similar to leprosy or its symptoms.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: lazarlike
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Having the appearance of the skin of one infected with leprosy; flaking, peeling, scabby, scurfy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adj
Meaning 5
Immoral, or corrupted or tainted in some manner; also, ostracized, shunned.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
adj
Meaning 6
Of gold or other metals: contaminated with other substances; impure.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Topics: alchemy, pseudoscience
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
adj
Meaning 7
Synonym of leprose (“covered with thin scurfy scales, scaly-looking”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: leprose
Antonyms: none provided
8
adj
Meaning 8
Causing leprosy or a disease resembling it.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
adjective
Meaning 9
relating to or resembling or having leprosy
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English leprous (“having leprosy or a skin disease with symptoms like leprosy; (alchemy) of metals or minerals: impure; a leper”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman leprous, lepros [and other forms], Middle French lepros, lepreux, and Old French leprous, lepros (“having leprosy; a leper”) (modern French lépreux), and from their etymon Late Latin leprosus (“having leprosy; (alchemy) of metals: impure; a leper”), from Latin lepra (“leprosy”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Lepra is derived from Ancient Greek λέπρᾱ (léprā, “leprosy”), from λεπῐ́ς (lepĭ́s, “flake, scale; epithelial debris”) (perhaps from λέπω (lépō, “to peel, strip off a husk or rind”) + -ῐς (-ĭs, suffix forming feminine nouns)) + -ᾱ (-ā, suffix forming action nouns from verbs).
Across languages
Translations
29 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
مَجْذُوم
(majḏūm)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Arabic:
أَبْرَص
(ʔabraṣ)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Armenian:
բորոտ
(borot)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Old Armenian:
ուրուկ
(uruk)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Bulgarian:
прока́жен
(prokážen)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Czech:
leprozní
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Danish:
spedalsk
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Finnish:
spitaalinen
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
French:
lépreux
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Galician:
leproso
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Galician:
gafo
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Georgian:
კეთროვანი
(ḳetrovani)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
German:
lepros
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
German:
leprös
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
German:
aussätzig
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
German:
leprakrank
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Gothic:
𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍄𐍃𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌻𐍃
(þrutsfills)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Greek:
λεπρός
(leprós)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Ancient Greek:
λεπρός
(leprós)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Icelandic:
holdsveikur
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Italian:
lebbroso
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Central Kurdish:
گول
(gul)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Latin:
leprosus
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Old English:
hrēof
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Portuguese:
leproso
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Ottoman Turkish:
پیس
(pis)
— infected with one of the diseases known as leprosy
Arabic:
جُذَامِيّ
(juḏāmiyy)
— similar to leprosy or its symptoms
Latin:
leprōticus
— similar to leprosy or its symptoms
Bulgarian:
прока́жен
(prokážen)
— ostracized, shunned — see also ostracized
