Standard Lemma guide

malady

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • măl'ə-dē
  • /ˈmæl.ə.di/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M AE1 L AH0 D IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A moral or mental defect or disorder.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: illness, unwellness, sickness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ill health, unhealthiness, health problem

Narrower terms: condition, ague, amyloidosis, anuresis, anuria, catastrophic illness, collapse, prostration, decompression sickness, aeroembolism, air embolism, gas embolism, caisson disease, bends, food poisoning, gastrointestinal disorder, lead poisoning, plumbism, saturnism, disease, hypermotility, indisposition, ozone sickness, toxemia of pregnancy, toxaemia of pregnancy, toxemia, toxaemia, growth

4

noun

Meaning 4

any unwholesome or desperate condition

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • what maladies afflict our nation?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: condition, status

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: sëmundje — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Central Bikol: hilang — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Bulgarian: болест (bolest) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Bulgarian: разстройство (razstrojstvo) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Cherokee: ᎥᏳᎩ (vyugi) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Chinese Mandarin: 疾病 (jíbìng) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Czech: nemoc — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Czech: choroba — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Esperanto: malsano — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Finnish: sairaus — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Finnish: tauti — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • French: maladie — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • German: Krankheit — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • German: Übel — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Hindi: रोग (rog) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Italian: malattia — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Latin: morbus — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Malayalam: അസുഖം (asukhaṁ) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sykdom — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sjukdom — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sjukdom — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Plautdietsch: Krankheit — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Portuguese: mal — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Russian: боле́знь (boléznʹ) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Russian: заболева́ние (zabolevánije) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Russian: расстро́йство (rasstrójstvo) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Russian: неду́г (nedúg) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Sicilian: malatìa — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Sicilian: morbu — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Sicilian: mali — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Spanish: mal — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Spanish: achaque — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Spanish: maleza — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Spanish: aje — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Spanish: aj — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Spanish: ax — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Spanish: dolencia — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Swedish: sjukdom — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Tocharian B: teki — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Ottoman Turkish: خستهلق (hastalık) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Ottoman Turkish: علت (ʼillet) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Ottoman Turkish: مرض (maraz) — a disease, illness, or other health disorder
  • Czech: nešvar — moral or mental disorder
  • Czech: neduh — moral or mental disorder