heartsink patient

noun

Etymology

From the idea that the patient's approach makes the doctor's heart sink in dread.

Definitions

  1. A recurring patient who cannot be definitively cured, such as one whose condition is…

    A recurring patient who cannot be definitively cured, such as one whose condition is undiagnosable or untreatable or who presents nebulous symptoms.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for heartsink patient. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA