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:
As scientists link oral bacteria to heart disease and cognitive decline, a push is under way to treat the mouth as a source of body-wide inflammation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Jeffries was declared "mentally incompetent" by a court last year and said to be suffering with dementia and late onset of Alzheimer's disease.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
GDF15 also appeared to slow the progression of liver fibrosis, the accumulation of scar tissue that occurs as liver disease becomes more advanced.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
In an April 2025 court filing, a psychiatrist hired by the defense found that Jeffries was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders requiring round-the-clock care.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
If the disease is treated quickly, there are no long-term complications.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
“This tragic loss is a reminder of the serious threat posed by mosquito-borne diseases, including West Nile virus and dengue.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The advance could give scientists new ways to study and potentially treat neurodegenerative diseases by acting directly inside living cells, where many of the biological processes involved in these conditions begin.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
The settlement allows a return for further damages should any of those in the claim go on to develop asbestos-related diseases.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
It is used to treat adults with severe and rare autoimmune diseases which cause inflammation of the blood vessels.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The diseases of his patients lay scattered in his mind.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
He removed the tumour and part of the diseased jawbone, but the electrochemotherapy was administered to target any remaining cancerous cells.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Wacky animal sidekicks once felt vibrant in a holistic world of artifice; here, a goggle-eyed rooster just looks diseased.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Research focused on using chemotherapy and radiation to wipe out diseased bone marrow, then infusing healthy donor cells to create a new immune system capable of attacking cancer and rebuilding the body’s defenses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
They evaluated how each substance affected the diseased nerve cells, leading to the identification of sildenafil as a promising candidate.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 31, 2026
Ultrasonics had promising potential for physics, chemistry, and biology, ranging from the detection of underwater objects to the removal of diseased tissue, but the research required hugely expensive equipment.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
