cancerous

UK/ˈkænsəɹəs/US/ˈkænsəɹəs/

adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,275 of 15,258neutral

Cancerous means being or caused by a growth that spreads through the body. A cancerous tumour, cancerous cells, found to be cancerous.

The spreading is the whole definition, since a growth that stays put is benign rather than cancerous. The figurative use is heavy and reserved for corruption spreading through an institution.

Definitions of cancerous

1adjectivecancerousBeing or caused by a growth that spreads through the body.B2+
“The doctors removed the cancerous tumour from her lung.”

cancerous is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin cancer means a crab, and was used of tumours from the swollen veins around them.

Latin
cancerōsus
Middle English
cancerous
English, today
cancerous

Built from

cancer · Latin — crab; tumor, cancer

From Middle English cancerous, from Latin cancerōsus, from cancer (“crab; tumor, cancer”) + -ōsus. by surface analysis, cancer + -ous.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

cancerous in the wild

Once such a mutation has occurred, the affected cells divide incessantly and become cancerous, forming a tumor.
Cyst
Once that happens, the capsule becomes useless, and the tumor may advance from benign to cancerous.
Cyst
Liver tumors can be classified as benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous) growths.
Liver tumor
Surgical oncology is the branch of surgery applied to oncology; it focuses on the surgical management of tumors, especially cancerous tumors.
Surgical oncology
Compared to malignant (cancerous) tumors, benign tumors generally have a slower growth rate.
Benign tumor

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the cancer family

cancer cancel cancelled

cancerous — used about once every 13,270 pages · #12,275 · point at the bar for the others

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