chronic

adj

1. Of a problem, that continues over an extended period of time.

   “chronic unemployment; chronic poverty; chronic anger; chronic life”

   “Peer group support is important to displaced homemakers. The Displaced Homemakers' Network has done excellent work in helping women see that their problems do not have to be chronic.”

   “It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.”

   “Chronic mismanagement in the dugout and in the boardroom has meant the scale of the job now is as big as it has ever been.”

   “These concerns were shared by other SNP women who told the Guardian there was a chronic lack of support from the party, including for those with younger families.”

2. Prolonged or slow to heal.

   “chronic cough; chronic headache; chronic illness”

   “So dreadful was the concentration of his glare that it seemed as if it must become chronic and stay like that for ever.”

   “In 2016, the CDC established guidelines for prescribing narcotics for chronic pain.”

3. Of a person, suffering from an affliction that is prolonged or slow to heal.

   “Chronic patients must learn to live with their condition.”

4. Inveterate or habitual.

   “He's a chronic smoker.”

5. (slang)Very bad, awful.

   “That concert was chronic.”

6. (informal)Extremely serious.

   “They left him in a chronic condition.”

7. (slang)Good, great; "wicked".

   “That was cool, chronic in fact.”

noun

1. (countable, slang, uncountable)Marijuana, typically of high quality.

   “It's ironic, I had the brew, she had the chronic”

   “Pimp had been kicking it with one of the young jawns hanging around the apartment. She was real young and had bumpy skin and slum rings on every finger. She told us she was living next door with her grandmother while her mother was in jail, and she took us up to the roof to smoke some chronic.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A condition of extended duration, either continuous or marked by frequent recurrence. Sometimes implies a condition which worsens with each recurrence, though that is not inherent in the term.
3. (countable, uncountable)A person who is chronic, such as a criminal reoffender or a person with chronic disease.

   “Wernersvill asylum is now practically filled, and, as it is peopled with able-bodied chronics, there will be but little annual movement of patients.”

   “And then there were the chronics, not only those with marked pathology but life-long sufferers from "indigestion" or migraine, who had been passed around from doctor to doctor with nothing but temporary relief.”

   “Of fifty-five boys scoring four or more, fifteen were chronic offenders (out of twenty-three chronics altogether) […]”

   “Most congregations are full of wonderful people, but these chronics are also present in many churches. They come in three varieties -- the chronic havers of personal problems, the chronic complainers, and the chronic workaholics.”

   “An Italian study (Francescato et al. 1979), which compared 137 women who had had more than one abortion with others who had aborted only once, revealed that the use of contraceptives was higher among the 'chronics', and that the contraceptives they employed were generally safer.”