disease
Americannoun
-
diseases
plural
-
a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.
- Synonyms:
- malady, disorder, infirmity, indisposition, distemper, derangement, complaint, morbidity
- Antonyms:
- health
-
any abnormal condition in a plant that interferes with its vital physiological processes, caused by pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, unfavorable environmental, genetic, or nutritional factors, etc.
-
any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition, as of the mind or society.
His fascination with executions is a disease.
-
decomposition of a material under special circumstances.
tin disease.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
any impairment of normal physiological function affecting all or part of an organism, esp a specific pathological change caused by infection, stress, etc, producing characteristic symptoms; illness or sickness in general
-
a corresponding condition in plants
-
any situation or condition likened to this
the disease of materialism
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of disease
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English disese, from Anglo-French dese(a)se, disaise; dis- 1 + ease
Explanation
A disease is a health condition that has a specific set of symptoms and traits — such as malaria or heart disease. Disease is not always about the human body being sick. Plants and animals are often the victims of disease. People also use the word disease in a more figurative sense to illustrate just how bad or damaging a negative influence can be — like the disease of greed among capitalists or the disease of plagiarism among college students.
Vocabulary lists containing disease
Ecology - Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems - Introductory
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Ecology - Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems - Middle School and High School
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Workshop 5, Part 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Consultant haematologist Dr Sarah Lawson describes the treatment as a "functional cure" - the disease doesn't go away, but the aspects that caused problems are removed.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Amid the 2026 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, videos of a doctor recommending Vitamin D3 and zinc spread from accounts selling supplements, despite these being unable to treat the disease.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Yes, plague is a real, actual disease, and one that isn’t confined to history books.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
As the disease advances, some patients may ultimately require joint reconstruction procedures such as a total knee replacement.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
By now Sadako realized that she had leukemia, but she also knew that some patients recovered from the disease.
From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
The anti-parasitic drug is only approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat worm diseases.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
There are so many scary diseases out there that I had to wonder: Is there something about plague that is particularly unsettling?
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
The researchers believe this type of molecular rewiring could eventually have applications beyond lymphoma, including other cancers and some autoimmune diseases.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Obesity increases the risk of many different diseases, including type 2 diabetes.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
She conjured diseases and spoke to them, and each of the diseases and infirmities that can hurt or wound a person agreed that it too would never touch Balder.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
Humans usually contract it from fleas that have fed on infected wild rodents, or sometimes by handling the tissue or body fluids of a diseased animal, according to the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
He is also concerned about unregulated nurseries selling unidentified, or diseased plants.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The researchers then examined a large database containing information about different cell types in young, old and diseased human livers.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
In particular, they’re examining how bacteria from diseased gums, and the immune response they trigger, may contribute to conditions including heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, arthritis, respiratory disease and chronic liver disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
It was as if the metal itself was diseased.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
They provide for your wants, hearken to your complaints, nurture you in sickness, with a diseasing fondness, and so render you incapable.
From Charlemont; Or, the Pride of the Village. a Tale of Kentucky by William Gilmore Simms
In either case we have diabetes, the sugar irritating and diseasing the kidneys as it passes.”
From Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why What Medical Writers Say by Martha Meir Allen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
