terminal illness

[ tur-muh-nl il-nis ]

noun

1. a disease or condition that cannot be cured and will almost certainly lead to death.

Word History and Origins

Origin of terminal illness¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Someone without a terminal illness can go through years and years of terrible suffering.

From The Daily Beast

“Someone with a terminal illness will die soon anyway,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

Perhaps more than anything, what people fear most—aside from the pain of a terminal illness—is the loss of control.

From The Daily Beast

They should not be given such a means of ending their lives without a medically-diagnosed terminal illness.

From The Daily Beast

The American public is more or less evenly split on the question of physician-assisted death in the case of terminal illness.

From The Daily Beast