diseased
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of diseased
1425–75; late Middle English disesed; compare Anglo-French diseasé. See disease, -ed 2
Explanation
When something is unhealthy or affected by illness, it's diseased. Sadly, the diseased trees in the city park may eventually need to be cut down and removed. While this adjective essentially means "sick," it's not generally used to describe people. Instead, you might use it for plants, animals, or body parts: "Hepatitis can result in a diseased liver." Diseased comes from the Old French desaise, "discomfort or sickness," from des-, "without," and aise, "ease."
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.
"Boosting immune cell fitness may also help with other conditions where the immune system fails to clear diseased cells," Beyaz says.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
A new class of medications—known as “protein degraders”—are showing promise in going after a certain kind of hard-to-target protein in diseased cells.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
New medications are showing promise in going after a certain kind of hard-to-target protein in diseased cells.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
He is also concerned about unregulated nurseries selling unidentified, or diseased plants.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
How many carters would haul away diseased corpses?
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
