diseased

1. 1
   adjective

   Affected by or suffering from a disease.

   The vet separated the diseased animals from the rest of the herd.

   Surgeons excised the diseased portion of the lung and closed the incision.

   Similarinfected, sick, ill, ailing, unhealthy

   Oppositehealthy, sound

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past tense and past participle of disease.

   Note

   A verb form that mostly hides behind the everyday adjective. The active verb, meaning to infect, is now uncommon, and in "the vines were diseased" only context tells a passive from a description. Older writing holds a trap: the verb once meant to trouble or vex, the dis-ease of lost comfort. So a person "diseased" there may be annoyed rather than ill. The adjective takes degrees (more diseased); the participle does not.

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