Library / English Dictionary

ABNORMALITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Behavior that breaches the rule or etiquette or custom or morality

Synonyms:

abnormality; irregularity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("abnormality" is a kind of...):

misbehavior; misbehaviour; misdeed (improper or wicked or immoral behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "abnormality"):

deviance; deviation (deviate behavior)

Derivation:

abnormal (not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Marked strangeness as a consequence of being abnormal

Synonyms:

abnormality; freakishness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("abnormality" is a kind of...):

strangeness; unfamiliarity (unusualness as a consequence of not being well known)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Retardation sufficient to fall outside the normal range of intelligence

Synonyms:

abnormality; mental defectiveness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("abnormality" is a kind of...):

backwardness; mental retardation; retardation; slowness; subnormality (lack of normal development of intellectual capacities)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "abnormality"):

feeblemindedness (severe mental deficiency)

Derivation:

abnormal (departing from the normal in e.g. intelligence and development)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An abnormal physical condition resulting from defective genes or developmental deficiencies

Synonyms:

abnormalcy; abnormality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("abnormality" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "abnormality"):

mental abnormality (any abnormality of mental function)

nanophthalmos (condition in which both eyes are abnormally small but otherwise normal)

palmature (an abnormality in which the fingers are webbed)

dysplasia (abnormal development (of organs or cells) or an abnormal structure resulting from such growth)

hydrocephalus; hydrocephaly (an abnormal condition in which cerebrospinal fluid collects in the ventricles of the brain; in infants it can cause abnormally rapid growth of the head and bulging fontanelles and a small face; in adults the symptoms are primarily neurological)

abrachia (the condition of having no arms)

progeria (a rare abnormality marked by premature aging (grey hair and wrinkled skin and stooped posture) in a child)

atypicality; untypicality (any state that is not typical)

arrested development; fixation; infantile fixation; regression (an abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely)

aberrance; aberrancy; aberration; deviance (a state or condition markedly different from the norm)

cyclopia (a developmental abnormality in which there is only one eye)

spinal curvature (an abnormal curvature of the vertebral column)

subnormality (the state of being less than normal (especially with respect to intelligence))

anomalousness; anomaly (deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule)

gynecomastia (excessive development of the breasts in males; usually the result of hormonal imbalance or treatment with certain drugs (including some antihypertensives))

infantilism (an abnormal condition in which an older child or adult retains infantile characteristics)

macrocephaly; megacephaly; megalocephaly (an abnormally large head; differs from hydrocephalus because there is no increased intracranial pressure and the overgrowth is symmetrical)

microbrachia (abnormally small arms)

microcephalus; microcephaly; nanocephaly (an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain)

pachycheilia (an abnormal thickness of the lips)

phimosis (an abnormal tightness of the foreskin preventing retraction over the glans)

irritation ((pathology) abnormal sensitivity to stimulation)

retroflection; retroflexion; retroversion (a turning or tilting backward of an organ or body part)

sequela (any abnormality following or resulting from a disease or injury or treatment)

squint; strabismus (abnormal alignment of one or both eyes)

torticollis; wryneck (an unnatural condition in which the head leans to one side because the neck muscles on that side are contracted)

varix (abnormally enlarged or twisted blood vessel or lymphatic vessel)

acardia (congenital absence of the heart (as in the development of some monsters))

acephalia; acephalism; acephaly (absence of the head (as in the development of some monsters))

acorea (absence of the pupil in an eye)

acromicria; acromikria (abnormally small extremities (underdeveloped fingers and toes))

acromphalus (abnormal protrusion of the navel; sometimes the start of umbilical hernia)

amastia (absence of the mammary glands (either through surgery or developmental defect))

aneuploidy (an abnormality involving a chromosome number that is not an exact multiple of the haploid number (one chromosome set is incomplete))

anorchia; anorchidism; anorchism (absence of one of both testes)

asynclitism; obliquity (the presentation during labor of the head of the fetus at an abnormal angle)

atresia (an abnormal condition in which a normal opening or tube in the body (as the urethra) is closed or absent)

brachydactylia; brachydactyly (abnormal shortness of fingers and toes)

cryptorchidism; cryptorchidy; cryptorchism (failure of one or both testes to move into the scrotum as the male fetus develops)

deviated septum (abnormal displacement of any wall that separates two chambers (usually in the nasal cavity))

dextrocardia (abnormal condition where the heart is located toward the right side of the chest)

ectrodactyly (congenital abnormality involving the absence of some fingers or toes)

erethism (an abnormally high degree of irritability or sensitivity to stimulation of an organ or body part)

fetal distress; foetal distress (an abnormal condition of a fetus; usually discovered during pregnancy and characterized by an abnormal heart rhythm)

hepatomegaly; megalohepatia (abnormal enlargement of the liver)

inversion (abnormal condition in which an organ is turned inward or inside out (as when the upper part of the uterus is pulled into the cervical canal after childbirth))

heterotaxy; transposition (any abnormal position of the organs of the body)

pneumothorax (abnormal presence of air in the pleural cavity resulting in the collapse of the lung; may be spontaneous (due to injury to the chest) or induced (as a treatment for tuberculosis))

macrencephaly (an abnormally large braincase)

hydatid mole; hydatidiform mole; molar pregnancy (an abnormality during pregnancy; chorionic villi around the fetus degenerate and form clusters of fluid-filled sacs; usually associated with the death of the fetus)

hydramnios (an abnormality of pregnancy; accumulation of excess amniotic fluid)

hypervitaminosis (an abnormal condition resulting from taking vitamins excessively; can be serious for vitamins A or D or K)

hypospadias (an abnormal condition in males in which the urethra opens on the under surface of the penis)

lagophthalmos (abnormal condition in which an eye cannot close completely)

Antonym:

normality (being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning)

Derivation:

abnormal (not normal; not typical or usual or regular or conforming to a norm)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A rare lethal congenital abnormality that refers to the abnormal development of the capillaries around the alveoli in the lung parenchyma.

(Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

Clonal cytogenetic abnormalities are frequently present and usually are unbalanced translocations or deletions of chromosomes 5 and 7.

(Alkylating Agent-Related Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by abnormalities in the metabolism of phenylalanine and tyrosine.

(Alkaptonuria, NCI Thesaurus)

Typically, this presents without facies or other growth abnormalities.

(Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

A physical or cognitive mental abnormality caused by maternal alcohol consumption and its toxic effect on the developing embryo during pregnancy.

(Alcohol Related Birth Defect, NCI Thesaurus)

These abnormalities result from defective production of alpha-1 antitrypsin and lead to the development of emphysema, cirrhosis, and liver failure.

(Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

There is a wide range of signs and symptoms including hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, hearing loss, respiratory infections, mental retardation, skeletal abnormalities, leveled nasal bridge and protruding forehead.

(Alpha-Mannosidosis, NCI Thesaurus)

Signs and symptoms include blindness, obesity, hearing loss, endocrine abnormalities, cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure, hepatic and renal failure.

(Alstrom Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

It affects males more often than females and is characterized by hematuria, progressive renal insufficiency, hearing loss, and ocular abnormalities.

(Alport Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

A congenital abnormality of the jaws (particularly the mandible) in which they are unusually small.

(Micrognathism, NCI Thesaurus)