sclerotic

From sclera +‎ -otic.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /skləˈɹɑtɪk/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /skləˈɹɒtɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒtɪk

sclerotic (comparative more sclerotic, superlative most sclerotic)

1. (anatomy) Of or relating to the sclera of the eye.

   Synonym: scleral

2. (anatomy or pathology) Having or relating to sclerosis; hardened.
   • 1920, Clarence Ritchie Phipps, Plant Lice Injurious to Apple Orchards:

     The outer wood exposed to the air may become carbonaceous due to the interaction of sclerotic mycelium and the wood.

3. (figurative) Hard and insular; resistant to change.

   sclerotic bureaucracy

   • 2018, Mark Oppenheimer, “Politico”, in How to Turn a Red State Purple:

     Most state parties--Democrat or Republican--are sclerotic and dutiful, and little help to local candidates.

   • 2015 March 30, “Lee Kuan Yew’s Enigma: Authoritarian Yet a Kind of Democrat”, in CSIS‎^[1]:

     His funeral ends the era of first generation leaders in post-colonial Asia, in fact in the world, with the exception of a few sclerotic kleptocrats mostly in Africa.

4. (mycology) Of or relating to sclerotium.

sclerotic (plural sclerotics)

1. (anatomy) Synonym of sclera.
   • 1859, Henry Gray, Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical, page 555:

     In front, this membrane is continuous with the cornea by direct continuity of tissue; but the opaque sclerotic overlaps it rather more on the outer than upon its inner surface.

   • 1883, Louis Lewin, The Untoward Effects of Drugs, page 98:

     An icteric discoloration of the sclerotic — a quite common symptom in xanthopia from arsenical poisoning — is very seldom observed.

sclerotic (not comparable)

1. sclerotic

• sclerosis