terminal illness

[ tur-muh-nl il-nis ]

noun
  1. a disease or condition that cannot be cured and will almost certainly lead to death.

Origin of terminal illness

1
First recorded in 1860–65
  • Sometimes life-lim·it·ing ill·ness [lahyf-lim-i-ting il-nis], /ˈlaɪfˈlɪm ɪ tɪŋ ˈɪl nɪs/, end-stage dis·ease [end-steyj di-zeez] /ˈɛndˌsteɪdʒ dɪˈziz/ .

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

How to use terminal illness in a sentence