inveterate adj : having a habit of long standing; "a chronic smoker" [syn: chronic, confirmed, habitual, inveterate(a)]

English

Verb

1. To fix and settle by long continuance; to entrench.
   • 1622, Francis Bacon, The History of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh:

   "the vulgar conceived that now there was an end given, and a consummation to superstitious prophecies, the belief of fools, but the talk sometimes of wise men, and to an ancient tacit expectation which had by tradition been infused and inveterated into men's minds."

   • 1640, Edward Dacres, translation of The Prince by Machiavelli, Chapter XIX http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/15772

   "none of these Princes do use to maintaine any armies together, which are annex'd and inveterated with the governments of the provinces, as were the armies of the Roman Empire. "

   • 1851 January, author unknown, "The Philosophy of the American Union, in The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, page 16:

   "The foregoing elements of disunion are inveterated by the constituent formation of our national legislature. In the French chambers the members are all Frenchmen ; but our members of Congress are effectively Georgians, New-Yorkers, Carolinians, Pennsylvanians, &c."

Derived terms

• inveteration

Adjective

1. Old; long-established.

   • 1911: Morrison I. Swift, "Humanizing the Prisons," The Atlantic

     In Montpelier, where this prison stands, the inveterate prejudice against prisoners has been swept away.

2. Firmly established by long continuance; obstinate; deep-rooted; of long standing; as, an inveterate disease; an inveterate abuse.
3. Having habits fixed by long continuance; confirmed; habitual; as, an inveterate idler or smoker.
4. Malignant; virulent; spiteful.
   • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 15.

     A man of mild manners can form no idea of inveterate revenge or cruelty;

Antonyms

• casual

Translations

Chronic may refer to:

• Chronic (medical), a persistent and lasting disease or medical condition, or one that has developed slowly
• Chronic toxicity,
• A slang term in the United States for Cannabis (Marijuana, Weed).
• The Chronic, a 1992 album by Dr. Dre
• 2001 (album), a 1999 album by Dr. Dre originally to be called The Chronic 2001
• Slang for bad, extremely unpleasant

See also

• Chronos

abiding, accustomed, acknowledged, addicted, admitted, age-long, aged, ancient, antique, chronic, confirmed, constant, continuing, conventional, customary, deep-dyed, deep-engraven, deep-fixed, deep-grounded, deep-laid, deep-rooted, deep-seated, deep-set, deep-settled, diuturnal, durable, dyed-in-the-wool, embedded, embossed, enduring, engrafted, engraved, entrenched, established, etched, evergreen, fast, firmly established, fixed, folk, graven, habitual, habituated, hallowed, handed down, hardened, hardy, heroic, hoary, immemorial, immutable, implanted, impressed, imprinted, inbred, incorrigible, inculcated, indelibly impressed, indurated, infixed, ingrained, ingrown, innate, instilled, intransient, inwrought, irreversible, lasting, legendary, lifelong, long-established, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, macrobiotic, mythological, of long duration, of long standing, of the folk, old, old-line, on a rock, on bedrock, oral, perdurable, perduring, perennial, permanent, perpetual, persistent, persisting, prescriptive, received, recognized, remaining, rooted, sempervirent, set, settled, settled in habit, stabilized, stable, staying, steadfast, sworn, thorough, time-honored, tough, traditional, tried and true, true-blue, understood, unfading, unwritten, usual, venerable, vested, vital, well-established, well-founded, well-grounded, well-set, well-settled, worshipful