eating disorder

American

noun

any of various disorders, as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, characterized by severe disturbances in eating habits.

eating disorder Scientific

/ ē′tĭng /

Any of several patterns of severely disturbed eating behavior, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia, seen mainly in female teenagers and young women.

Etymology

Origin of eating disorder

First recorded in 1990–95

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.

Recently, Nagata had a patient who was hospitalized for an eating disorder and the patient showed him all the drugs and supplements he learned about from social media and was taking for various appearance-related things.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

She also testified that her older sister suffered from an eating disorder — details the defense sought to portray as the source of her body dysmorphia.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026

"They could actually contribute to an eating disorder developing for somebody who is already at risk."

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

Early findings suggest it may also help with conditions related to impulse control, including binge eating disorder.

From Science Daily • Dec. 8, 2025

She's taken her eating disorder on the road, conditioning her hair with whipped topping and rolling her bangs in finger-size breakfast sausages.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023