malady

[mal-uh-dee]

noun

plural

maladies 

1. any disorder or disease of the body, especially one that is chronic or deepseated.

   Synonyms: indisposition, ailment, complaint, affliction, sickness, illness

2. any undesirable or disordered condition.

   social maladies; a malady of the spirit.

malady

/ ˈmælədɪ /

noun

1. any disease or illness

2. any unhealthy, morbid, or desperate condition

   a malady of the spirit

Word History and Origins

Origin of malady¹

1200–50; Middle English maladie < Old French, equivalent to malade sick (< Late Latin male habitus literally, ill-conditioned; mal-, habit ¹ ) + -ie -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of malady¹

C13: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin male habitus (unattested) in poor condition, from Latin male badly + habitus, from habēre to have

Example Sentences

Research shows that such stress can cause an increase in physical, psychological and emotional illness, along with other maladies, up to and including death.

Read more on Salon

Generally, it means excessive competition, but it has become a shorthand for a range of maladies, especially deflation and overcapacity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

By treating actual adults—the chat participants weren’t teenagers—with kid gloves, they contribute to the cultural malady of infantilization.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

His latter years were blighted by maladies, including heart problems, Parkinson’s disease, and memory and hearing loss.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Wheezy if, God forbid, the pop star has been stricken with a laryngeal malady?

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• Cancer 
• ache 
• affliction 
• ailment 
• blight 
• disability 
• disorder 
• epidemic 
• fever 
• flu 
• illness 
• infection 
• infirmity 
• inflammation 
• sickness 
• syndrome 
• virus