How to Use congenital in a Sentence

congenital

adjective
  • The irregularity in my backbone is probably congenital.
  • The cause of the death of one child and the congenital health problems that Joshua’s suffers was cytomegalovirus, or CMV.
    Stephen Singer, courant.com, 5 July 2021
  • The murmur turned out to be a congenital heart defect that was caught in time for treatment.
    Nancy Clanton, ajc, 27 Jan. 2021
  • One of the voters the team helped was Heidi Bull Calf, whose 19-year-old son has a congenital heart defect.
    Maggie Astor, New York Times, 6 July 2021
  • And then there are people like me, congenital anosmics who were born with no sense of smell.
    Sharon Waters, SELF, 3 Mar. 2021
  • The child had a congenital heart defect and later died at the hospital.
    Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 2 Dec. 2022
  • Statewide, the rate of babies born with the disease, a condition known as congenital syphilis, jumped more than 40-fold in just five years.
    Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica, 4 Mar. 2024
  • Frech was born with congenital limb differences and ran on his first blades aged four.
    Amy Woodyatt, CNN, 4 Sep. 2024
  • At birth, 90% of babies born with congenital CMV will not show any visible symptoms of the virus.
    Essence, 19 July 2022
  • Bronny had surgery for a congenital heart defect and had his début with the U.S.C. Trojans four months later.
    Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 23 June 2024
  • Fauci wrote it was not known whether the diseases were in fact AIDS, and not a congenital disease, but that some appeared to meet the criteria.
    Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4 Dec. 2021
  • Every case of congenital syphilis, when a baby is born with the disease, is avoidable.
    Talia Herman, ProPublica, 1 Nov. 2021
  • Rates of congenital syphilis—syphilis passed from the mother to baby during childbirth—also jumped in the past decade, going up 937%.
    Korin Miller, Health, 7 Feb. 2024
  • Once there, the boy, who suffered from a congenital heart defect, collapsed and began having a seizure.
    Jim Salter, ajc, 30 Nov. 2022
  • Annika was born with the same congenital birth defect as Shaquem and wore a prosthetic on her right arm.
    Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2022
  • Though common, these moles lead to melanoma more often than congenital moles.
    Madison Yauger, Health.com, 8 June 2021
  • Babies die as congenital syphilis continues a decade-long surge across the U.S.
    Laura Blasey, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2022
  • The boy had a congenital heart defect, and once at his grandmother’s house, collapsed and began having a seizure.
    Greg Wehner, Fox News, 30 Nov. 2022
  • What is a congenital heart defect and how is it detected?
    Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY, 8 Feb. 2023
  • He was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that could be treated, his family said, and the younger James was cleared to play again.
    David K. Li, NBC News, 27 June 2024
  • Oster said he is asked by parents of children with congenital heart disease whether those kids should get the vaccine.
    Luke Money, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2021
  • Two years after Alex died in 2014 due to congenital heart failure, his stepson, came up with an idea to honor his legacy.
    Jonmaesha Beltran, The Arizona Republic, 15 Aug. 2022
  • Among those who had given birth, about 9% of the births were preterm, 3% had babies that were small for their gestational age, and 2% had congenital anomalies.
    Natalie Gontcharova, refinery29.com, 20 May 2021
  • Most hiatal hernias are thought to be congenital, meaning you were born with the propensity to have a larger-than-needed hole in the diaphragm.
    Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 15 Aug. 2022
  • Sanderson, 16, was born with spina bifida, a congenital birth defect in which the spinal cord fails to form properly.
    Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 2024
  • Mabry’s ex-wife worked in a hospital, so two of their kids, including one with a congenital condition, moved in with him.
    Michael Grabell, ProPublica, 21 Dec. 2020
  • The 19-year-old underwent surgery to correct a congenital heart defect.
    Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 10 Dec. 2023
  • Injecting healthy genes into the eyes of adults with a form of congenital blindness restored their night vision.
    Justin Beal, Harper’s Magazine , 12 Dec. 2022
  • Kids at highest risk include premature infants and those younger than age 2 with chronic lung disease or congenital heart disease.
    Sam Ogozalek, Orlando Sentinel, 31 July 2024
  • Some are infectious, while others are metabolic, autoimmune, or congenital (meaning something you are born with).
    Kumkum S. Patel, Verywell Health, 26 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'congenital.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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