disease

noun

dis·​ease di-ˈzēz 

1

: a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms : sickness, malady

infectious diseases

a rare genetic disease

heart disease

2

: a harmful development (as in a social institution)

sees the city's crime as a disease

3

obsolete : trouble

Synonyms of disease

• illness
• ailment
• ill
• disorder
• fever
• condition
• sickness

Examples of disease in a Sentence

He suffers from a rare genetic disease.

a disease of the mind

Thousands die of heart disease each year.

They are working to stop the spread of disease in rural areas.

The article cites intolerance as one of the most dangerous of society's diseases.

He sees crime as a disease that too often plagues the poor and disadvantaged.

Recent Examples on the Web

The surging number of measles cases around the world is a stark warning sign that outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases could be next, the World Health Organization warned Friday. —Erika Edwards, NBC news, 28 Nov. 2025

Chronic reflux can signal gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which can cause long-term damage if left untreated. —Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 27 Nov. 2025

Deli turkey contains significantly more sodium than turkey breast, raising your risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases. —Sarah Bence, Verywell Health, 27 Nov. 2025

In 2022, Dion faced yet another setback when she was diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare and incurable neurological disease that can cause debilitating muscle spasms. —Gillian Telling, PEOPLE, 27 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English disese, from Anglo-French desease, desaise, from des- dis- + eise ease

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Phrases Containing disease

• acute disease
• Addison's disease
• Alzheimer disease
• Alzheimer's disease
• Bang's disease
• Bright's disease
• brittle bone disease
• caisson disease
• Canavan disease
• Canavan's disease
• Castleman disease
• Castleman's disease
• cat scratch disease
• celiac disease
• Chagas disease
• Christmas disease
• chronic disease
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• chronic wasting disease
• citrus greening disease
• communicable disease
• contagious disease
• coronary artery disease
• coronary disease
• coronary heart disease
• coronavirus disease 2019
• Creutzfeld-Jakob disease
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Crohn disease
• Crohn's disease
• Cushing's disease
• deficiency disease
• Dutch elm disease
• factitious disease
• fifth disease
• flesh-eating disease
• foot-and-mouth disease
• gastroesophageal reflux disease
• Gaucher disease
• Gaucher's disease
• graft-versus-host disease
• Guinea worm disease
• hand, foot and mouth disease
• Hansen's disease
• heart disease
• hemolytic disease of the newborn
• Hodgkin's disease
• hoof-and-mouth disease
• Huntington disease
• Huntington's disease
• infectious disease
• inflammatory bowel disease
• Johne's disease
• Kawasaki disease
• Kawasaki's disease
• kissing disease
• Legionnaire's disease
• Lou Gehrig's disease
• Lyme disease
• mad cow disease
• Marek's disease
• mental disease
• milky disease
• milky spore disease
• Ménière's disease
• mucocutaneous lymph node disease
• Newcastle disease
• new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Paget's disease
• Paget's disease of bone
• Parkinson disease
• Parkinson's disease
• pelvic inflammatory disease
• Pierce's disease
• polycystic kidney disease
• Pott's disease
• Powassan disease
• Powassan virus disease
• prion disease
• pullorum disease
• social disease
• Tay-Sachs disease
• tsutsugamushi disease
• variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• venereal disease
• von Willebrand disease
• von Willebrand's disease
• whirling disease
• Wilson's disease
• woolsorter's disease

Rhymes for disease

• agrees
• appease
• bailees
• bougies
• burmese
• chemise
• chickpeas
• chinese
• cowpeas
• curies
• decrees
• degrees

Kids Definition

disease

noun

dis·​ease diz-ˈēz 

: an abnormal bodily condition of a living plant or animal that interferes with functioning and can usually be recognized by signs and symptoms : illness

diseased

-ˈēzd 

adjective

Medical Definition

disease

noun

dis·​ease diz-ˈēz 

: an impairment of the normal state of the living animal or plant body or one of its parts that interrupts or modifies the performance of the vital functions, is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms, and is a response to environmental factors (as malnutrition, industrial hazards, or climate), to specific infective agents (as worms, bacteria, or viruses), to inherent defects of the organism (as genetic anomalies), or to combinations of these factors : sickness, illness

called also morbus

compare health sense 1

diseased

-ˈēzd 

adjective