How to say "illness" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 症しょうsuffixNot used on its own for saying someone is ill; it works as a suffix-like element inside medical terms that name specific conditions, so you meet it within disease names rather than in conversation.
- 病気びょうきnounThe everyday word for being ill or having a disease, used in ordinary talk about health; it usually excludes minor ailments such as the common cold.
- 疾病しっぺいnounSeldom the word for everyday conversation about being sick; it belongs to official and medical-administrative contexts, where illness or disease is treated as a category in documents and statistics.
- 疾患しっかんnounThe clinical term for a disease or disorder as a named medical condition; medical professionals and medical writing use it when discussing specific disorders, not for everyday talk about feeling unwell.
- 病やまいnounA native word for illness that you will mostly encounter in proverbs, set phrases and literary language; for simply saying that someone is ill, 病気 is the word you want.
Choose 病気 for ordinary illness, 疾患 for a specific medical disorder, 疾病 for official and medical-administrative contexts, 症 within medical condition names, and やまい mostly in set phrases and literary language.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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