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:
Haskins — best known for playing Principal Richard Belding on the classic ‘90s teen sitcom “Saved by the Bell” — died Sunday night, after an eight-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, among other health issues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
As a result, a serious disease such as cancer or a major surgery could be expensive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
None had a known history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
Now, a large international study suggests that this hidden disease is already present in some young adults who otherwise appear healthy, and that it is considerably more widespread than previously recognized.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 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
He was interested, Berry says, in "developing skills that would maybe at a later point allow him to cure various diseases."
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Prop 38 aims to fund immunotherapy research to prevent and cure diseases through bonds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Large numbers will go on to die awful deaths from Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative brain diseases as a result of their work entertaining us on TV.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Later, he published a science-fiction novel, called “Darkome,” where AI bioengineering has enabled biological attacks and characters use genetic technology to develop remedies for cancer and other diseases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Then there were all the diseases one is vulnerable to in the woods—giardiasis, eastern equine encephalitis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, schistosomiasis, brucellosis, and shigellosis, to offer but a sampling.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
The researchers then examined a large database containing information about different cell types in young, old and diseased human livers.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
Cells in the diseased livers had started moving away from their mature state and toward the regenerative state, but they were unable to finish the transition.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
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
In particular, they’re examining how bacteria from diseased gums, and the immune response they trigger, may contribute to conditions including heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, arthritis, respiratory disease and chronic liver disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Whatever was twisted or diseased in the human soul was present in that room.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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
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
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.
