malady

[ mal-uh-dee ]
See synonyms for malady on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural mal·a·dies.
  1. any disorder or disease of the body, especially one that is chronic or deepseated.

  2. any undesirable or disordered condition: social maladies; a malady of the spirit.

Origin of malady

1
1200–50; Middle English maladie<Old French, equivalent to malade sick (<Late Latin male habitus literally, ill-conditioned; see mal-, habit1) + -ie-y3

Other words for malady

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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use malady in a sentence

  • Rheumatism was the one malady that sometimes affected mother Martha's health.

    Dorothy at Skyrie | Evelyn Raymond
  • In all of these the clinical facts, as well as the progress of the malady, were carefully studied and recorded.

  • He as well as Brisset was called in consultation regarding a very serious malady afflicting Raphael de Valentin.

    Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
  • All this time, however, his malady was gaining ground; he slept badly, and his appetite failed him.

    Skipper Worse | Alexander Lange Kielland
  • "But I do not observe any symptoms of that malady developing themselves at present," added the doctor.

    Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for malady

malady

/ (ˈmælədɪ) /


nounplural -dies
  1. any disease or illness

  2. any unhealthy, morbid, or desperate condition: a malady of the spirit

Origin of malady

1
C13: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin male habitus (unattested) in poor condition, from Latin male badly + habitus, from habēre to have

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012