illness
[noun]
Synonyms: disease, affliction, ailment, disorder, infirmity, malady, sickness

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Antonyms: health

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English Thesaurus: illness, disease, infection, condition, problem, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

ill‧ness S3 W3 /ˈɪlnəs, ˈɪlnɪs/ noun [uncountable and countable]
a disease of the body or mind, or the condition of being ill:
She had all the normal childhood illnesses.
Her mother was recovering from a serious illness.
I’ve never missed a day’s work through illness.
ways to improve your health and reduce the risk of illness
⇒ disease

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

illness
noun
ADJ. fatal, incurable, terminal | debilitating, life-threatening, major, serious, severe | minor | lingering, long, long-standing, long-term, prolonged | brief, short | final, last | acute, chronic | infectious | painful | depressive, mental, psychiatric, psychotic | psychosomatic | physical | respiratory | childhood
QUANT. bout, episode an acute episode of mental illness
VERB + ILLNESS have, suffer (from) Badly fed children suffer a lot of minor illnesses. people who suffer from mental illness
contract, develop, get He contracted a serious illness and died a month later.
diagnose | treat The drug is used to treat a wide range of illnesses.
cause illnesses caused by poverty
prevent a drug that may be helpful in preventing illnesses such as cancer
recover from | fight (off) The immune system enables the body to fight off illness.
feign She feigned illness so that she wouldn't have to go to school.
nurse sb through She nursed her father through his final illness.
ILLNESS + VERB affect sb The mystery illness affected hundreds of people in the city.
PREP. after ~ He's just returned to work after illness.
because of/due to/through ~ earnings lost due to illness
with ~ people with serious psychological illnesses | ~ among a high rate of illness among the workers
~ associated with the illnesses associated with HIV infection
~ in episodes of illness in children
PHRASES the onset of illness the sudden onset of illness in a parent | a smoking-/Aids-, etc. related illness the most common stress-related illnesses

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

illness

have an illness
When did you first find out that you had the illness?
suffer from an illness
She suffers from a rare illness.
get/develop an illness
She developed the illness when she was in her 50s.
contract an illness formal (=get an illness by catching it from another person)
He contracted the illness while he was working abroad.
recover from an illness
It took several months for him to recover from his illness.
be diagnosed with an illness (=be found by doctors to have an illness)
Her husband had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
cause/lead to illness
Inadequate hygiene can lead to illness.
prevent illness
Vaccines have been successful in preventing illness.
serious/severe
His illness is more severe than the doctors first thought.
minor (=not serious)
He suffered a succession of minor illnesses.
fatal (=causing death quite quickly)
She developed a fatal illness.
life-threatening (=likely to cause death)
Doctors say that his illness isn’t life-threatening.
terminal (=causing death eventually, and not possible to cure)
At that point the illness was thought to be terminal.
incurable (=not possible to cure)
The films tells the sad story of a young boy with an incurable illness.
acute (=becoming serious very quickly)
A lot of illnesses can be either acute or chronic.
chronic (=that lasts a long time, and cannot be cured)
Diabetes is an example of a chronic illness.
a long/short illness
She nursed him through his long illness.
Arthur died following a short illness.
a debilitating illness (=that makes you very weak)
His last years were ruined by a debilitating illness.
a childhood illness
Measles is a common childhood illness.
a mental/psychiatric illness
We provide specialist care for young people with mental illnesses.
the symptoms of an illness
Symptoms of the illness include vomiting and severe headaches.
a period of illness
He returned to work after a period of illness.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

illness something wrong with your health which makes you feel ill:
Her husband was in hospital for six months with a serious illness.
disease a particular illness, especially one that spreads to other people easily or that affects one part of your body:
childhood diseases such as measles and chickenpox
heart disease
infection an illness that is caused by bacteria or a virus:
His cough got worse and worse and became a chest infection.
condition a health problem that affects you permanently or for a long time:
a medical condition such as asthma
a heart condition
problem [usually after a noun] something that is wrong with a particular part of your body or your health in general:
a serious back problem
health problems
trouble [singular, only after a noun] illness or pain that affects a particular part of your body:
I’ve had a bit of stomach trouble.
disorder formal an illness that prevents a particular organ of your body from working properly, or affects the way you behave:
a liver disorder
a blood disorder
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder.
bug informal an illness that spreads to other people very easily but that is not very serious:
There’s a bug going round at school and a lot of the children are absent.
a flu bug
complaint medical an illness that affects a particular part of your body, especially one that is not very serious – used by doctors:
a minor skin complaint
Deakin suffers from a back complaint called arachnoiditis.
ailment /ˈeɪlmənt/ formal an illness that affects a particular part of your body, especially one that is not serious:
People often go to their doctor about relatively minor ailments.
The ointment is used to treat ailments such as small wounds and insect bites.
sickness the state of being ill, especially when it stops you working:
absence from work due to sickness
ill health formal the state of being ill, usually for a long period of time:
Research shows that there is a link between air pollution and ill health.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

illness the general state of being ill:
Stress is emerging today as a major cause of illness.
sickness the state of being ill, especially when it stops you working:
absence from work due to sickness
ill health formal the state of being ill, usually for a long period of time:
Research shows that there is a link between air pollution and ill health.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲