eating disorder

American

noun

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

eating disorder Scientific

/ ē′tĭng /

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

Etymology

Origin of eating disorder

First recorded in 1990–95

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.

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

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

From Science Daily • Dec. 8, 2025

Natalie said the only logical explanation she could think of was an eating disorder, but the truth became clear on 9 September that year when Beth was admitted to hospital.

From BBC • Oct. 25, 2025

In line with traditional eating disorder treatment, nutritionists at her residential clinic strongly discourage their patients from restricting calories.

From Salon • Oct. 13, 2025

Zander is sometimes depressed, too, and Annabelle herself is anxious, and Sierra is edging toward an eating disorder, and those are only the things she knows for sure.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023