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 He was diagnosed at age 25 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a rare kidney disease. — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2026 Regulatory requirements and market pressure together push drug manufacturers toward narrow indications, one tumor type and one disease stage at a time. — Karen E. Knudsen, STAT, 27 Oct. 2026 Ursula von Rydingsvard, a sculptor who responded to the austerity of Minimalism with monumental cedar sculptures that had a distinctly human touch, died in New York on Tuesday following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 27 Oct. 2026 In Congo, the disease has spread to 66 health zones across eight provinces, from three zones when it was first declared in May. — ABC News, 27 Oct. 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
  • Large companies can spread that risk across many people; at a small business, one serious illness or accident can quickly raise costs.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Shigellosis is a gastrointestinal illness caused by a group of bacteria called Shigella.
    — Devika Rao, TheWeek, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of illness
Noun
  • Last season, Williams missed 49 regular-season games and much of the postseason after dealing with a right wrist injury that required surgery and nagging hamstring ailments in both legs.
    — Scott Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • So, too, was Capra’s, despite some misbegotten movies and his struggles with depression and other ailments.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of ailment
Noun
  • Hilton has blasted Becerra as taking the state’s voters for granted, failing to hold public campaign events to explain his detailed plans to address California’s many ills.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Now, in The Social Reckoning, Sorkin focuses on the ills of the company Facebook eventually became.
    — Eliana Dockterman, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of ill
Noun
  • The progressive nervous system disorder affects more than a million Americans.
    — David K. Li, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Research has shown that the therapeutic use of horseback riding can improve balance and coordination in people who have neurological conditions like cerebral palsy, and lessen the symptoms for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
    — Ondine Cohane, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of disorder
Noun
  • When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Another, published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, involved a man who developed fever and severe diarrhea after eating undercooked pigeon meat.
    — Rachel Melegrito, Scientific American, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of fever
Noun
  • The company aims to develop a wider lineup of electric-propulsion ships suited to different operating conditions and customer requirements.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2026
  • That website works great in the demo—under specific conditions and without users with thumbs for fingers.
    — Brian Jenney, IEEE Spectrum, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of condition
Noun
  • But important clues about how the sickness operates are emerging from the latest studies of bacterial DNA in ancient bones and teeth.
    — Faye Flam, Scientific American, 27 Oct. 2026
  • In the Buendías’ legacy of love and betrayal, loyalty and idealism, there was domestic and political violence, but there was also ice in the middle of the jungle and a sickness that put the whole town to sleep and girls that became witches.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of sickness

Phrases Containing disease

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disdains
disease
diseased
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Cite this Entry

“Disease.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disease. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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