noun · neutral
illness
/ˈɪlnəs/ILL·ness
Band 5-6speakingtask2
a medical condition in which someone is not healthy; sickness
Examples
“She missed the exam because of a sudden illness.”
“Many countries struggle to provide healthcare for chronic illnesses.”
“He recovered from his illness after two weeks of rest and medicine.”
Band 8 sentence
“The healthcare system must prioritise early diagnosis and treatment to reduce the burden of chronic illness.”
Collocations
- suffer from an illness
- recover from an illness
- serious/chronic illness
Word family
ill adjectiveillness nounillly (rare) adverb
Common mistakes
many illness→many illnesses
He has illness→He has an illness
much illnesses→many illnesses
Say it for a higher band
5sick→6sickness→7+illness
Synonyms
disease
sickness
Easily confused
disease
“The disease spread rapidly through the region.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In -ness
Learn it with its set