rheumatoid

adj

1. (not-comparable, usually)Involving or pertaining to rheumatism, especially rheumatoid arthritis.

   “Rheumatoid sufferers have such pain and discomfort every day of their lives that they live eternally in high hopes of something effective turning up.”

   “Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), often referred to by doctors today as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is a type of arthritis that causes joint inflammation and stiffness for more than six weeks in a child aged 16 or younger. It affects approximately 50,000 children in the United States. Inflammation causes redness, swelling, warmth, and soreness in the joints, although many children with JRA do not complain of joint pain.”

2. (dated, not-comparable, usually)Presenting analogies with rheumatism.

noun

1. (dated)A person with rheumatoid arthritis.

   “The highly significant findings with regard to hurt feelings suggests that the hypothesis that rheumatoids learn to hide their hurt feelings [7] and are reticent about expressing their dissatisfactions [4] may be correct.”