Meaning & use
circumcised
Last updated
“circumcised” is a form of “circumcise”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivenot comparablemedical
Describes a male whose foreskin has been removed, usually for religious, cultural or medical reasons.
Grammar: Describes a person: a circumcised boy; you cannot say very circumcised.
Patterns
- be circumcised
- a circumcised something
Many circumcised men report no change in everyday comfort.
The study compared circumcised and uncircumcised boys over ten years.
In their tradition, a circumcised son is welcomed with a family ceremony.
verbtransitivemedical
Past tense and past participle of circumcise: to remove the foreskin of a male, in a medical or religious procedure.
Grammar: Takes an object, and is very often passive: he was circumcised, they circumcised him.
Patterns
- be circumcised at something
- circumcised someone
He was circumcised on the eighth day, as the custom requires.
The doctor circumcised the baby under local anesthetic.
Their son was circumcised in the hospital before they went home.
Common combinations
- circumcised at birth
- He was circumcised at birth, as his parents had planned.
- ritually circumcised
- The boys were ritually circumcised in a ceremony led by the elders.
- medically circumcised
- Some adults choose to be medically circumcised after repeated infections.
- a circumcised male
- The survey asked each circumcised male about his experience.
- circumcised or uncircumcised
- The form asks whether the patient is circumcised or uncircumcised.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cut
- Cut is an informal, slangy word for the same condition and sounds blunt or crude in medical or formal settings, where circumcised is expected.
- snipped
- Snipped is a casual, often joking word that can sound disrespectful, so it does not fit serious writing the way circumcised does.
Opposites
Word family
- circumcise verb
- to perform the procedure
- circumcision noun
- the procedure itself
- uncircumcised adjective
- not having had the procedure
- circumciser noun
- a person who performs it
Commonly confused: circumcised or circumscribed?
circumcised vs circumscribed
Circumscribed means limited or marked off within boundaries, and has nothing to do with the medical procedure, although the two words share a Latin root meaning 'around'.
Practice
Which sentence uses the word correctly?
Choose one answer.
Circumcised is the word for the removal of the foreskin. Circumscribed is a tempting look-alike but means restricted or drawn around, which makes no sense for a baby.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “circumcised”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.