Definition

1. Noun:
   • A disease or disorder of the body or mind; an illness: A specific, often chronic or serious, condition that impairs normal functioning.
   • A fundamental problem or serious issue within a system or organization: An undesirable, deep-seated condition affecting a society, institution, or other complex entity.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Physical/Mental Illness):
  • The doctor diagnosed a rare malady.
  • He suffered from a mysterious malady for many years.
• Noun (Systemic Problem):
  • Corruption is a chronic malady in their political system.
  • The report examines the social maladies of poverty and inequality.

Advanced Usage

• "A malady of the spirit": Used to describe a profound state of melancholy, despair, or moral sickness.
  • The poem speaks of a malady of the spirit that no medicine can cure.
• "To afflict with a malady": A formal construction describing the action of a disease or problem affecting someone or something.
  • The region was afflicted by a malady of drought and famine.

Variants and Related Words

• Maladies (n): The plural form of malady.
  • The hospital specializes in treating chronic maladies.
• Maladjusted (adj): Failing to cope with or adjust to the demands of a social environment. (Shares the root concept of faulty condition).
  • A maladjusted child may need special support.

Synonyms

• Ailment: A minor illness or disorder.
• Affliction: Something that causes pain or suffering, such as a disease.
• Disorder: A disruption of normal physical or mental functions.
• Ill: An informal term for unwell or sick.

Related Phrases

• "To diagnose a malady": To identify the specific nature of an illness or problem.
  • It took specialists years to diagnose his malady.
• "To remedy a malady": To provide a solution or cure for a disease or problem.
  • The new policy aims to remedy the economic malady.

Related Idioms

• "The body politic's malady": A metaphor describing a serious problem affecting a nation or state.
  • The historian argued that civil war was the malady of the body politic.

Noun

1. impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism
2. any unwholesome or desperate condition
   • what maladies afflict our nation?