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
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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:
When Julia was diagnosed in childhood with celiac disease, Mommy continued loading her up on gluten with grievous consequences.
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
She makes her stop in El Paso, but she also accepts an invitation to speak at a public meeting of the American Legion in Tucson, Arizona, to raise awareness of Hansen’s disease.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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
Most are part of a healthy ecosystem, but a smaller group can thrive below the gumline, inflame the gums and drive diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
I mean, I have a bevy of horrific diseases to choose from, don’t I?
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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
These findings suggest that the most effective treatment may not be preventing diseased cells from releasing Tau.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026
To prepare for transplant, I had two weeks of near-lethal doses of chemo to destroy my diseased bone marrow and suppress my immune system, creating space for donor cells to take hold.
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
It’s supposed to be so we won’t slip her any contraband, but it always feels like they’re saying she’s diseased or something.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
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.
