bulimia
bulimia Lexical Profile
bulimia Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A serious psychiatric eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, or excessive exercise.
"Early intervention and cognitive behavioral therapy are widely used to help patients recover from bulimia."
An insatiable, abnormally voracious, or morbid appetite for food.
"In older medical texts, the term bulimia simply denoted a symptom of extreme, unquenchable hunger resulting from various metabolic conditions."
Word Nuance & Usage
In clinical and everyday usage, 'bulimia' (short for 'bulimia nervosa') is often contrasted with 'anorexia' ('anorexia nervosa'); while anorexia is primarily characterized by severe food restriction and extreme low body weight, bulimia involves recurring cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory purging behaviors.
• Rhymes for bulimia
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin bulimia, from Ancient Greek boulimia ('ravenous hunger'), a compound of bous ('ox', used as an intensive prefix meaning 'huge') and limos ('hunger').