1
a
: ill health : illness
b
: a disordered, weakened, or unsound condition
2
: a specific disease
3
: nausea, queasiness
Examples of sickness in a Sentence
He died from an unknown sickness.
she was plagued by sickness most of her adult life
Recent Examples on the Web
The idea of green sickness comes out of Renaissance medicine, which in turn took a page from Hippocrates’s rediscovered book On the Disease of Virgins.
—
Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 27 Sep. 2025
What does another entry into the canon of sickness writing have to offer readers?
—Bekah Waalkes, The Atlantic, 25 Sep. 2025
But what if there was yet another factor under our nose that could help explain this sickness?
—Laura Yuen, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
The year before his death, in 2016, sickness entered my life like a wrecking ball.
—Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sickness
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Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 27 Sep. 2025
What does another entry into the canon of sickness writing have to offer readers?
—Bekah Waalkes, The Atlantic, 25 Sep. 2025
But what if there was yet another factor under our nose that could help explain this sickness?
—Laura Yuen, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
The year before his death, in 2016, sickness entered my life like a wrecking ball.
—Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sickness
Cite this Entry
“Sickness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sickness. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sickness
noun
sick·ness
ˈsik-nəs 
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