as in illness
an abnormal state that disrupts a plant's or animal's normal bodily functioning
they caught a rare disease while they were traveling in Africa and were sick for weeks
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of disease
Most commonly caused by human papillomavirus, or HPV, the disease has a five-year relative survival rate of 67% for all those diagnosed, per the National Cancer Institute.
—
Charles Trepany, USA Today, 4 Mar. 2026
Many are older adults living with HIV, hepatitis, cancer, liver disease or multiple chronic conditions.
—Scott Suckow, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
Sometimes an environmental trigger switches on a disease that otherwise could have remained dormant.
—Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
Among the many perks shrub roses offer over traditional roses are repeat blooms, improved disease resistance, and a fuller garden presence without constant spraying or deadheading.
—Marisa Suzanne Martin, The Spruce, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for disease
Charles Trepany, USA Today, 4 Mar. 2026
Many are older adults living with HIV, hepatitis, cancer, liver disease or multiple chronic conditions.
—Scott Suckow, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
Sometimes an environmental trigger switches on a disease that otherwise could have remained dormant.
—Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
Among the many perks shrub roses offer over traditional roses are repeat blooms, improved disease resistance, and a fuller garden presence without constant spraying or deadheading.
—Marisa Suzanne Martin, The Spruce, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for disease
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disease
Noun
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After falling behind early in camp due to an illness, Sheehan made his first appearance in the Cactus League Wednesday against Team Mexico.—
Jack Vita,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
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When faced with a patient suffering from an illness, many nurses err on the side of prescribing something.—
Jonathan Lambert,
NPR,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Emma Operacz Operacz was treated and discharged again, but infections, migraines and other ailments kept bringing her back.—
Kerry Breen,
CBS News,
28 Feb. 2026
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Devers, 29, dealt with back and groin ailments last season but still managed to play 163 games, a neat byproduct of the midseason trade that sent him from the Boston Red Sox to San Francisco.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Faced with high rates of suicide and other ills such as addiction, corrections officers have long been concerned about the stress and violence of their jobs.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2026
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Reform’s pitch to voters is that, for many of these ills, mass immigration is to blame.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In attendance at the ceremony was John Davidson, a Scottish activist well known across the United Kingdom for his efforts to destigmatize Tourette’s syndrome, a neurological disorder that can manifest in involuntary verbal tics.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2026
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Modern mental health, built to diagnose disorder and stabilize dysfunction, was never designed to answer these questions.—
Kaitlyn Gomez,
USA Today,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Time spent mired in fever, or in quarantine, or in recovery is not free time.—
Donna Vickroy,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2026
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Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea, nausea and stomach pain, body aches, headache and fever.—
Steven Rosenbaum,
CBS News,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Pretending to restore the coal zone to the employment conditions of the1950s, or even the 1980s, isn’t an honest way to go about it.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
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If the cosmic inflation that occurred prior to the Big Bang arose because certain high-energy conditions were met, then recreating those conditions and those sufficiently high energies could cause a restoration of the inflationary state.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Thankfully, my sickness is over.—
Donna Vickroy,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2026
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Kind of like with any sickness, getting to the root of the problem with a medical professional will do more than downing a multitude of hot beverages.—
Sara Kiley Watson,
Popular Science,
26 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disease.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disease. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.
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