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disease

noun

di-ˈzēz How to pronounce disease (audio)
Definition of diseasenext
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of disease Alpha 1, who’s most strict about the disease’s suppression, lashes out uncontrollably. — Cortlyn Kelly, IndieWire, 8 Sep. 2026 It has since been used by scientists worldwide for disease research and drug discovery. — Peter Hall, Scientific American, 8 Sep. 2026 Dobber also pointed to growing concerns about air pollution and wildfire smoke as factors that can damage the lungs and increase the risk of COPD and disease flare-ups. — Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2026 Workers believe two of their colleagues died from a preventable lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust while working on the New Jersey temple, the largest such building outside of India. — Frank Andrews, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for disease
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disease
  1. illness
  2. ailment
  3. ill
  4. disorder
  5. fever
  6. condition
  7. sickness
Noun
  • The initiative aims to bring positivity and hope to children battling critical illnesses.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Violations marked as priority contribute directly to the elimination, prevention or reduction in the hazards associated with foodborne illness.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of illness
Noun
  • Starting next year, Illinois will have new safeguards in place to prevent parents from being wrongly accused of child abuse or neglect when their children visit a doctor or hospital emergency room for unexplained injuries or ailments.
    — Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 8 Sep. 2026
  • The ailment, according to Cleveland Health, is a sudden weakness in the heart muscle.
    — Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of ailment
Noun
  • Manny Navarro North Carolina Bobby Petrino has fixed all the offensive ills.
    — The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • But unlike Transcription or George Saunders’s Vigil, the year’s other novel about a rich old man on his way to the underworld, this book doesn’t try to diagnose our collective ills.
    — Emma Alpern, Vulture, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of ill
Noun
  • Tens of thousands have developed cancers, respiratory diseases, digestive disorders, and mental health conditions linked to their exposure.
    — Raja Flores, STAT, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Like those at school, his parents didn’t understand the disorder and thus he was blamed.
    — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of disorder
Noun
  • In just his first year, a bacterial infection gave him nonstop diarrhea, belly cramps and a fever.
    — Jayme Fraser, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026
  • That fever dream-sounding couple of sentences actually describes a real thing.
    — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of fever
Noun
  • The outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers' strike and intense population movements.
    — JEAN-YVES KAMALE, Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Israel robs children of their smallest joys because joy is the seed of hope, and that is how the body learns that captivity is not the natural condition of life.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of condition
Noun
  • There’s a mysterious sickness going around, apparently caused by a toxic fog that invisibly burns the skin of whoever comes into contact with it.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
  • In the case of the cyclospora outbreak, Taylor Farms initiated a recall of iceberg lettuce after reports of sickness emerged from across the country.
    — Dian Zhang, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of sickness

Phrases Containing disease

Browse Nearby Words

disdains
disease
diseased
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Disease.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disease. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

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