- illness
- nounADJECTIVE▪ deadly, fatal, incurable, terminal▪ catastrophic (AmE, law), critical, dangerous, debilitating, devastating, life-threatening, major, serious, severe, terrible▪
He suffered from a debilitating illness which made everyday life a struggle.
▪ mild, minor▪ treatable▪Clinical depression is a treatable illness.
▪ preventable▪TB is a major cause of preventable illness and death.
▪ lengthy, lingering, long, long-standing, long-term, prolonged▪ degenerative, progressive▪ brief, short▪ final, last▪ acute, chronic▪ sudden▪Kerry died of a sudden illness.
▪ infectious▪ family, genetic▪We assess the applicant's history of family illness.
▪ painful▪ mysterious, mystery, unexplained▪They had failed to find the cause of his mystery illness.
▪ common▪Diabetes is a common illness.
▪ rare▪He became blind after contracting a rare illness.
▪ depressive, mental, psychiatric, psychological, psychotic, stress-related▪ psychosomatic▪ medical▪Depression is a treatable medical illness.
▪ AIDS-related, flu-like, food-borne (esp. AmE), physical, respiratory, smoking-related, viral▪ childhood… OF ILLNESS▪ bout, episode▪an acute episode of mental illness
VERB + ILLNESS▪ experience, have, suffer, suffer from▪those who experience mental illness
▪Badly fed children suffer a lot of minor illnesses.
▪people who suffer from mental illness
▪ catch, contract, develop, get▪people who never seem to catch the illnesses their friends get
▪He contracted a serious illness and died a month later.
▪ diagnose▪ treat▪The drug is used to treat a wide range of illnesses.
▪ cure, heal (esp. AmE)▪The only thing that could cure her illness was a special herb.
▪ control, manage▪ways to help arthritis sufferers manage their illness
▪ survive▪She survived a life-threatening illness.
▪ beat▪Claire is optimistic she can beat her illness.
▪ cause▪illnesses caused by poverty
▪ prevent▪a drug that may be helpful in preventing illnesses such as cancer
▪ battle, combat▪ fight, fight off, overcome, recover from▪The immune system enables the body to fight off illness.
▪ fake, 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.
▪ bear▪She bore her final illness with great courage.
ILLNESS + VERB▪ affect sb, afflict (formal)▪The mystery illness affected hundreds of people.
▪Mental illness afflicts one in four people.
▪ plague sb▪Her childhood was plagued by illness.
▪ hit (sb), strike (sb)▪Suddenly, illness hit the household.
▪The illness struck while he was touring.
▪ arise, occur▪Some illnesses occur more frequently following puberty.
▪ cause sth▪the pain and distress caused by your illness
▪ progress▪As his illness progressed, Neil began to have difficulty speaking.
▪ result (from sth)▪Sometimes it's hard to tell whether illnesses result from bacteria or viruses.
▪ require sth▪Both illnesses require treatment.
PREPOSITION▪ after illness▪He's just returned to work after illness.
▪ because of illness, due to illness, through illness▪earnings lost through illness
▪ with illness▪people with serious psychological illnesses
▪ illness among▪a high rate of illness among the workers
▪ illness associated with▪the illnesses associated with HIV infection
▪ illness from▪the first case of illness from the Ebola virus
▪ illness in▪episodes of illness in children
PHRASES▪ the onset of an illness▪the sudden onset of illness in a parent
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
