Meaning & use
epileptic
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounmedical
Connected with epilepsy, a brain condition that causes repeated seizures.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: an epileptic seizure, epileptic activity in the brain.
Patterns
- epileptic seizure
- epileptic activity
The doctor asked whether anyone in her family had ever had an epileptic seizure.
Special scans can show unusual epileptic activity in the brain.
He was taken to hospital after an epileptic fit at work.
adjectivebefore a nounmedical
Having epilepsy; used to describe a person who has this condition.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: an epileptic child, an epileptic patient. Many people now prefer 'a person with epilepsy'.
Patterns
- an epileptic patient
- an epileptic child
She has been an epileptic patient at this clinic since childhood.
The school trains staff to support epileptic students safely.
He is epileptic and takes medicine every day to control his seizures.
nouncountablemedicaloffensive
A person who has epilepsy; now often avoided because it defines someone by their condition.
Grammar: Countable: an epileptic, two epileptics. Many people prefer 'a person with epilepsy'.
Patterns
- an epileptic
- support for epileptics
The old charity was set up to help epileptics find work.
Some patients dislike being called epileptics and prefer 'people with epilepsy'.
In older books, epileptics were often described unfairly.
Common combinations
- epileptic seizure
- He had an epileptic seizure during the night.
- epileptic fit
- She was given medicine to prevent another epileptic fit.
- epileptic activity
- The brain scan showed epileptic activity in one area.
- epileptic patient
- The nurse explained the new drug to the epileptic patient.
- epileptic drug
- This epileptic drug can make you sleepy at first.
Synonyms and how they differ
- convulsive
- Describes violent body movements, which can happen in some seizures, but it does not mean 'having epilepsy' in general.
- seizure-related
- A plain descriptive phrase for anything connected to seizures; it is wider than 'epileptic' and does not name the condition.
Word family
- epilepsy noun
- The medical condition that causes repeated seizures.
Commonly confused: epileptic or epileptoid? epileptic or epilepsy?
epileptic vs epileptoid
A rare technical word meaning 'resembling epilepsy', not 'having epilepsy'; learners almost never need it.
epileptic vs epilepsy
The noun for the condition; use 'epileptic' as the adjective (epileptic seizure) or, less preferably, the noun for a person.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'epileptic' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Epileptic' is an adjective before a noun, so 'an epileptic seizure' is correct. Option A uses it as if it were a countable illness, option C uses it as a noun for the condition itself, and option D wrongly uses it as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “epileptic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.