malady

[mal-uh-dee] /ˈmæl ə di/
noun, plural maladies.
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
1200-50; Middle English maladie < Old French, equivalent to malade sick (< Late Latin male habitus literally, ill-conditioned; see mal-, habit) + -ie -y3
Can be confused
malady, melody.
Synonyms
1. illness, sickness, affliction, complaint, ailment, indisposition.
Examples from the web for malady
  • Incidents of special needs are growing, and putting up a special building for each malady is not possible for most institutions.
  • Government statistics say about 4.4 million report having the malady in a given year.
  • Kidney stones are usually an adult malady, one that is notorious for causing excruciating pain — pain worse than childbirth.
  • This malady is, of course, stage fright.
  • If I'm right, then their "fundamental malady" is an inability to speak honestly.
  • Wade sat out with a sprained right wrist, the second time a malady kept him sidelined in the past week.
  • This is a very common malady these days.
  • But there is an opportunity to cure this malady.
  • He blames his attack on a sleep-related malady.
  • Talking about the symptoms of this malady will not help any of us.
British Dictionary definitions for malady

malady

/ˈmælədɪ/
noun (pl) -dies
1.
any disease or illness
2.
any unhealthy, morbid, or desperate condition: a malady of the spirit
Word Origin
C13: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin male habitus (unattested) in poor condition, from Latin male badly + habitus, from habēre to have
Word Origin and History for malady
n.

late 13c., from Old French maladie "sickness, illness, disease" (13c.), from malade "ill" (12c.), from Latin male habitus "doing poorly, feeling sick," literally "ill-conditioned," from male "badly" (see mal-) + habitus, past participle of habere "have, hold" (see habit). Related: Maladies.

malady in Medicine

malady mal·a·dy (māl'ə-dē)
n.
A disease, disorder, or ailment.