malady

[mal-uh-dee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR malady ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural mal·a·dies.

any disorder or disease of the body, especially one that is chronic or deepseated.

any undesirable or disordered condition: social maladies; a malady of the spirit.

Origin of malady

1200–50; Middle English maladie < Old French, equivalent to malade sick (< Late Latin male habitus literally, ill-conditioned; see mal-, habit¹) + -ie -y³

Can be confusedmalady melody

Synonyms for malady

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR malady ON THESAURUS.COM

1. illness, sickness, affliction, complaint, ailment, indisposition.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for maladies

illness, syndrome, cancer, sickness, disability, virus, infection, epidemic, fever, inflammation, affliction, blight, ache, disorder, infirmity, ailment, flu, complaint, contagion, debility

Examples from the Web for maladies

Contemporary Examples of maladies

These two maladies that he makes fun of, millions of people, millions of people are affected by these diseases.
Harry Reid Unloads on Bob Gates for Insensitivity and Breaking Confidentiality
John L. Smith
January 23, 2014
These two maladies that he makes fun of, millions of people, millions of people are effected by these diseases.
Reid: Gates ‘Unethically’ Gossiped and Published Memoir to ‘Make Money’
John L. Smith
January 23, 2014
Such awful outcomes for Medicaid patients are found in a variety of studies looking at cancer, heart problems, and other maladies.
The Great Medicaid Swindle
Nick Gillespie
October 24, 2013
Her debut collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Hemingway Award.
The National Book Awards Longlist for Fiction
September 19, 2013
We may think that of all the maladies that can be visited upon the human body, death itself would be the easiest to diagnose.
This Week’s Hot Reads: March 7, 2012
Nicholas Mancusi
March 8, 2012

Historical Examples of maladies

Gotre and other maladies arising from insufficient diet have disappeared.
In the Heart of Vosges
Matilda Betham-Edwards
It by no means follows, that he must wait for one or other of these maladies to carry him off.
Nuts and Nutcrackers
Charles James Lever
Was it his fault that the doctors could not cure their maladies?
Stories of Comedy
Various
I have gout, asthma, and seven other maladies, but am otherwise very well.
How to Succeed
Orison Swett Marden
The most prevalent of these maladies are spinal curvature and myopia.
Spontaneous Activity in Education
Maria Montessori

British Dictionary definitions for maladies

malady

noun plural -dies

any disease or illness

any unhealthy, morbid, or desperate conditiona malady of the spirit

Word Origin for malady

C13: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin male habitus (unattested) in poor condition, from Latin male badly + habitus, from habēre to have

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for maladies

malady

late 13c., from Old French maladie "sickness, illness, disease" (13c.), from malade "ill" (12c.), from Latin male habitus "doing poorly, feeling sick," literally "ill-conditioned," from male "badly" (see mal-) + habitus, past participle of habere "have, hold" (see habit). Related: Maladies.

maladies in Medicine

malady

[măl′ə-dē]

n.

A disease, disorder, or ailment.