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parasitical

[par-uh-sit-ik]

Example Sentences

adjective

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of parasites.

(of diseases) due to parasites.

Phonetics. excrescent (def. 2).

Also, par·a·sit·i·cal.

Origin:
1620–30; < Latin parasīticus < Greek parasītikós. See parasite, -ic

Related forms

par·a·sit·i·cal·ly, adverb

par·a·sit·i·cal·ness, noun

an·ti·par·a·sit·ic, noun, adjective

an·ti·par·a·sit·i·cal, adjective

an·ti·par·a·sit·i·cal·ly, adverb

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non·par·a·sit·ic, adjective

non·par·a·sit·i·cal, adjective

non·par·a·sit·i·cal·ly, adverb

pseu·do·par·a·sit·ic, adjective

un·par·a·sit·ic, adjective

un·par·a·sit·i·cal, adjective

un·par·a·sit·i·cal·ly, adverb

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Parasitical is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

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Example Sentences

And for parasitical bloodsuckers, they do remarkably little harm.

Focus on good education, good infrastructure and clamp down on parasitical speculation and pork distribution.

The bloggers are parasitical on the conventional media.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

parasite (ˈpærəˌsaɪt)

—n
1.	an animal or plant that lives in or on another (the host) from which it obtains nourishment. The host does not benefit from the association and is often harmed by it
2.	a person who habitually lives at the expense of others; sponger
3.	(formerly) a sycophant

[C16: via Latin from Greek parasitos one who lives at another's expense, from para-¹ + sitos grain]

parasitic

—*adj*

para'sitical

—*adj*

para'sitically

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Matching Quote

"Byron's revealing line, "And if I laugh at any mortal thing, 'Tis that I may not weep," suggests that the comic sense is parasitical upon the tragic. In order to avoid our tragic encounters with the transitoriness of passing fact, the fading of beauty, the destructive consequences of moral evil, alienation from the primary source of value, we make fun. The making of fun where no real occasion for fun exists is essentially what comedy is about. Tragedy and comedy are, indeed, but two masks worn by the same character alternately, depending on the exigencies of the moment; that is, depending upon which mask best represents him in such a way as successfully to reduce the unacceptable tensions of his ambience. Thus the obvious truth of Socrates' argument at the end of the Symposium. Both tragedy and comedy are but one-sided expressions of the ironic sensibility."

-David L. Hall

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