eating disorder

American  

noun

eating disorders plural

1. any of various disorders, as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, characterized by severe disturbances in eating habits.

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eating disorder Scientific  

/ ē′tĭng /

1. Any of several patterns of severely disturbed eating behavior, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia, seen mainly in female teenagers and young women.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• eating disorders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of eating disorder

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

Suddenly there’s interest from a yes-chef-centric prestige drama called “The Boar,” as well as the return of an old eating disorder that has our heroine sneaking off to the bathroom, in danger of toppling everything.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026

Recently, Nagata had a patient who was hospitalized for an eating disorder and the patient showed him all the drugs and supplements he learned about from social media and was taking for various appearance-related things.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

Oscar-frontrunner Jessie Buckley has said acting is "like water to me" as she spoke about how passion for her craft helped her overcome an eating disorder and depression as a teenager.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

Early findings suggest it may also help with conditions related to impulse control, including binge eating disorder.

From Science Daily • Dec. 8, 2025

She's taken her eating disorder on the road, conditioning her hair with whipped topping and rolling her bangs in finger-size breakfast sausages.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris