clinical

Definitions

From Greek klinē, 'a bed' (a thing you lie back on). A clinic was originally bedside medical teaching, so clinical first meant 'at the patient's bedside' (clinical trial). From the doctor's cool bedside manner came a second sense: emotionally detached, coldly analytical.

Why It Means This

The two senses share one image: a doctor calmly observing a patient in bed. In medicine it's neutral (clinical trial, clinical signs); applied to people or prose it turns critical — 'clinical detachment' praises composure, but 'a cold, clinical apartment' complains it feels lifeless.

Common Collocations

• 1.clinical trial临床试验
• 2.clinical depression临床抑郁症

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The new drug performed well in clinical trials.

• 2.

  She was diagnosed with clinical depression last spring.

• 3.

  He described the accident with a clinical detachment that unsettled us.