sickness
/ˈsɪknəs
/noun [mass noun]
1The state of being ill: she was absent through sickness [as modifier]: a sickness allowance...
- You have a severe headache with fever, sickness and possibly a rash.
- There are the usual migraine symptoms - headache, sickness, sensitivity to light, but there are no aura symptoms.
- Sixty-one years ago, they promised to love each other in sickness and health.
Synonyms
illness, disease, disorder, ailment, complaint, affliction, infection, malady, infirmity, indisposition
informal lurgy, bug, virus
Australian informal wog
1.1 [often with adjective or noun modifier] A particular type of illness or disease: botulism causes fodder sickness of horses [count noun]: a woman suffering an incurable sickness...
- Viruses are responsible for some minor sicknesses like colds or chickenpox as well as extremely serious diseases like smallpox or HIV / AIDS.
- Farmers living in fumigated areas complain of myriad sicknesses, including skin problems and birth defects.
- Antibiotics are strong medicines used to treat sicknesses called infections.
2The feeling or fact of being affected with nausea or vomiting: she felt a wave of sickness wash over her travel sickness...
- There may also be nausea, sickness or diarrhoea, and a feeling of exhaustion.
- All the children were suffering from sickness, vomiting and twitching.
- York District Hospital managers today appealed for visitors who have suffered sickness and diarrhoea to stay away from its grounds.
Synonyms
nausea, biliousness, queasiness
vomiting, retching, gagging, upset stomach, stomach upset;
travel-sickness, seasickness, carsickness, airsickness, motion sickness, morning sickness, altitude sickness
informal throwing up, puking
rare qualms
Origin
Old English sēocnesse (see sick1, -ness).