as in illnesses
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
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Recent Examples of diseases
Any time people from around the world gather together, the risk of certain diseases goes up.
—
Alice Park, Time, 12 June 2026
Water shortages, limited hygiene and extreme heat and humidity continue to accelerate the spread of these diseases.
—Sarah Ferguson, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
Studying the neural circuitry driving hunger and satiety can help scientists better understand how to treat metabolic diseases like obesity, the researchers say.
—Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 12 June 2026
Furman adds that deadheading peonies will also help prevent and protect against fungal diseases.
—Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 12 June 2026
Rats transmit diseases through urine and waste, causing fever and other illnesses.
—Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 12 June 2026
More than 10,000 rare diseases affect 30 million Americans.
—Elise Esposito, Boston Herald, 29 May 2026
Vaccination rates have slipped, and large, multistate outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases have inevitably come roaring back.
—Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 29 May 2026
There are excellent vaccines for many of the most contagious viral diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, shingles, polio, RSV, HPV, herpes, rotavirus, influenza and Covid-19.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 29 May 2026
Alice Park, Time, 12 June 2026
Water shortages, limited hygiene and extreme heat and humidity continue to accelerate the spread of these diseases.
—Sarah Ferguson, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
Studying the neural circuitry driving hunger and satiety can help scientists better understand how to treat metabolic diseases like obesity, the researchers say.
—Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 12 June 2026
Furman adds that deadheading peonies will also help prevent and protect against fungal diseases.
—Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 12 June 2026
Rats transmit diseases through urine and waste, causing fever and other illnesses.
—Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 12 June 2026
More than 10,000 rare diseases affect 30 million Americans.
—Elise Esposito, Boston Herald, 29 May 2026
Vaccination rates have slipped, and large, multistate outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases have inevitably come roaring back.
—Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 29 May 2026
There are excellent vaccines for many of the most contagious viral diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, shingles, polio, RSV, HPV, herpes, rotavirus, influenza and Covid-19.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 29 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for diseases
Noun
-
Officials with Connecticut’s mosquito management program are hard at work setting up traps and collecting mosquitoes for the presence of viruses that can cause illnesses in people, including West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
12 June 2026
-
Rats transmit diseases through urine and waste, causing fever and other illnesses.—
Chas Newkey-Burden,
TheWeek,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Raw dairy, his farm has claimed, could cure, treat or prevent myriad diseases and ailments, from diabetes and ear infections to allergies, eczema and arthritis.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
14 June 2026
-
Vivi Sanchez Salinas with MiSalud, a nonprofit that contracts with farms to offer counseling services, said the stress of potential immigration enforcement may hamper productivity and show up in the form of physical ailments, for example, trouble sleeping, stomach issues and headaches.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2026
Noun
-
Olena started with the children, the most vulnerable refugees as well as the most likely vectors of new sicknesses in the theater.—
James Verini,
The Atlantic,
12 May 2026
-
The most sicknesses were reported in Michigan.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
On this near-ideal night, all the ills of the past few years faded away, and an era — or at least a month — of real ambition began.—
Henry Bushnell,
New York Times,
14 June 2026
-
Ultimately, a ballot initiative won’t cure the ills that plague healthcare in the United States, said the Lown Institute’s Saini.—
Kff Health News,
Oc Register,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
Investigators said Morabia Siddhi Suresh, 33, of Fremont, California, had been driving in rainy conditions when she was involved in a separate collision, according to Kentucky State Police.—
Anthony Thompson,
USA Today,
14 June 2026
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However, the edges of these disks may have temperatures and conditions akin to the planet-forming protoplanetary disks found around infant stars.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
14 June 2026
Noun
-
The technology could eventually treat corneal injuries, severe dry eye disease and other inflammatory disorders of the ocular surface, though it has not yet been tested in humans.—
Samantha Agate,
Kansas City Star,
16 June 2026
-
Too many people with mental illness and substance use disorders are incarcerated when treatment would be more effective.—
Justyna Rzewinski,
New York Daily News,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
For example, the prescription offered by those who saw a generally healthy way of life as the right way to prevent disease helped propel cleaning up the filthy cities of the Industrial Revolution—and that really did reduce the impact of common fevers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
-
Amir suffered fevers and stomach issues during his incarceration at Dilley, according to the report.—
Joseph Konig,
PEOPLE,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Diseases.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diseases. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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