disease
Americannoun
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Ecology - Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems - Middle School and High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Workshop 5, Part 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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 bodywide inflammation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
This resistance was most likely linked to severe fatty liver disease.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
“We don’t really see many well dogs,” the London native acknowledged during a visit last year when he found Cosmo was in the early stages of kidney disease.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The findings come as women are more likely to get Alzheimer’s disease.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Throughout the nineteenth century, periodic waves of the disease sent more mortals than usual off to the world of spirits.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The Southwest Utah Public Health Department stocks vaccines against measles, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B, and other diseases.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The effort comes as climate change creates more favourable conditions for mosquitoes to survive and reproduce, increasing concerns about the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
It said such devices contributed to higher atmospheric pollution of nitrogen oxides that are suspected of "provoking the development of respiratory diseases in humans".
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Argenx said the drug has potential to address multiple autoimmune diseases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
His mother died, but she didn’t have any diseases, and neither does he.
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
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
And just four years earlier, she had had a procedure that she thought would take care of her heart problem—a diseased aortic valve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
In medicine, they could function as "nano-surgeons," locating diseased cells and delivering targeted treatments with precision.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 31, 2026
However, there was ongoing debate about whether it mainly transported potassium ions or protons, and how those movements affected cell function in both healthy and diseased states.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2026
It was a skinny, bony old horse, probably diseased, but to everyone in the camp, it represented food.
From "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" by Andrea Warren
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 Simms, William Gilmore
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 Allen, Martha Meir
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.
