morbidly
Meaning
in a way that shows an unhealthy interest in unpleasant subjects, especially death and disease
in a way that is connected with disease
Structure
Usage
he was morbidly obsessed with details of the accident.
the patient's tissue was morbidly adherent to the surrounding organs.
she has a morbidly vivid imagination when it comes to potential disasters.
Etymology
the adverb 'morbidly' is built upon the adjective 'morbid', which traces its lineage directly to latin. the latin root morbus, meaning 'disease, sickness', is the source. the suffix -idus was added to form morbidus, meaning 'diseased'. this term entered english in the 17th century, initially describing a state of physical disease. over time, its meaning expanded metaphorically to characterize an unhealthy mental state or an excessive preoccupation with gloomy subjects. the english adverbial suffix '-ly', of germanic origin, is then appended to form 'morbidly', describing an action performed in a diseased or unhealthily fascinated manner.
Analysis
morbid (from latin morbidus, meaning 'diseased, sickly', from morbus 'disease'); ly (from old english -līce, an adverbial suffix forming adverbs from adjectives).