ILLNESS Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

illness

noun

ˈil-nəs

Definition of illness

as in disease

an abnormal state that disrupts a plant's or animal's normal bodily functioning suffered from a mysterious illness that left her weak and tired all the time

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in sickness

the condition of not being in good health prone to illness as a child, he was sent to a western ranch with the expectation that it would toughen him up

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 illness Here, in a pristine clinic on the banks of an even more pristine glacial Austrian lake, illness is not simply bad luck that happens to you. — Jamie Timson, TheWeek, 24 July 2026 What else is going on Another cyclosporiasis outbreak is being investigated as cases of the diarrhea-causing illness continue to mount. — Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 2026 Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. — Sara Moniuszko, USA Today, 24 July 2026 Weeks into the outbreak, federal officials are still investigating the source of the illness, which causes severe diarrhea. — Allie Canal, NBC news, 24 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for illness

Recent Examples of Synonyms for illness

Noun

DeepMind’s AlphaFold, for example, has used to AI to make available new structures for more than 200 million proteins, opening new pathways for research into disease and medicine.

— Belonging Forum, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
The lab got its start with studies of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the 1900s, when ranchers and cattle were dying from the then-unknown disease.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 22 July 2026

Definition of disease

Noun

Health officials urged that anyone experiencing symptoms seek medical care immediately, as the sickness can be treated with antibiotics when diagnosed early.

— Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 30 July 2026
Other teams, including Remco Evenepoel’s Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, may be tempted to try a move on Alpe d’Huez tomorrow, in case of sickness — a move of such aggression that it would never usually be considered.

— Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 23 July 2026

Definition of sickness

Noun

Blaming billionaire wealth-hoarding for America’s ills would poll very well among the nation’s anthropology departments.

— Gilad Edelman, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026
Last month, Kwon’s team, in collaboration with Seongju Kim at Hanbat National University, in Daejeon, South Korea, presented its solution to HBM’s future ills.

— IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 8 July 2026