Malady

//ˈmæl.ə.di// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any ailment or disease of the body; especially, a lingering or deep-seated disorder.

    "As, to prevent our maladies unseen, / We sicken to shun sickness when we purge."

  2. 2
    impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism wordnet
  3. 3
    A moral or mental defect or disorder.

    "Love's a malady without a cure."

  4. 4
    any unwholesome or desperate condition wordnet

Example

More examples

"She suffers from a chronic malady."

Etymology

From Middle English maladie, from Old French maladie (“sickness, illness, disease”), from malade (“ill, sick”), from Latin male habitus (“ill-kept, not in good condition”), 1st century AD. See also malice and habit.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.