- 1(especially of a disease) lasting for a long time; difficult to cure or get rid of chronic bronchitis/arthritis/asthma the country's chronic unemployment problem a chronic shortage of housing in rural areas opposite acute
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- 2having had a disease for a long time a chronic alcoholic/depressive
NAmE//ˈkrɑnɪkli//
adverb a hospital for the chronically illSee chronic in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: chronic