dis ‧ or ‧ der /dɪsˈɔːdə $ -ˈɔːrdər/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ order ≠ ↑ disorder , ↑ ordering ; adjective : ↑ ordered ≠ ↑ disordered , ↑ orderly ≠ ↑ disorderly ; verb : ↑ order ]
1 . [countable] medical a mental or physical illness which prevents part of your body from working properly
a disorder of the brain/liver/digestive system etc
He suffers from a rare disorder of the liver.
a stomach/lung/heart etc disorder
a mental/psychiatric disorder
people with mental disorders
severe eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia
2 . [uncountable] a situation in which a lot of people behave in an uncontrolled, noisy, or violent way in public
civil/public/crowd disorder
A number of stadiums were closed because of crowd disorder.
3 . [uncountable] a situation in which things or people are very untidy or disorganized OPP order
in/into disorder
Everything was in disorder, but nothing seemed to be missing.
His whole system was thrown into disorder.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + disorder
▪ a genetic disorder (=caused by a gene from your parents)
Progeria is a genetic disorder which accelerates ageing.
▪ a mental/psychiatric/psychological disorder (=affecting the mind)
He was diagnosed with a severe psychiatric disorder.
▪ a blood/brain/liver etc disorder
She suffers from a rare brain disorder.
▪ an eating disorder (=in which someone stops eating a normal amount of food)
Eating disorders can be very difficult to treat.
▪ a personality disorder (=that stops someone behaving in a normal way)
The study suggested that 84% of prisoners have a personality disorder.
▪ a common/rare disorder
Acne is a very common skin disorder.
■ verbs
▪ have a disorder
The singer admitted she had an eating disorder.
▪ suffer from a disorder
People who are suffering from psychological disorders often fail to get treatment.
▪ develop a disorder
Women are 30% more likely to develop the disorder than men.
▪ treat a disorder
The drug is used to treat lung disorders.
▪ a disorder affects somebody/something
Many genetic disorders affect only girls or only boys.
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THESAURUS
▪ illness something wrong with your health which makes you feel ill:
Her husband was in hospital for six months with a serious illness.
▪ disease a particular illness, especially one that spreads to other people easily or that affects one part of your body:
childhood diseases such as measles and chickenpox
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heart disease
▪ infection an illness that is caused by ↑ bacteria or a ↑ virus :
His cough got worse and worse and became a chest infection.
▪ condition a health problem that affects you permanently or for a long time:
a medical condition such as asthma
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a heart condition
▪ problem [usually after a noun] something that is wrong with a particular part of your body or your health in general:
a serious back problem
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health problems
▪ trouble [singular, only after a noun] illness or pain that affects a particular part of your body:
I’ve had a bit of stomach trouble.
▪ disorder formal an illness that prevents a particular organ of your body from working properly, or affects the way you behave:
a liver disorder
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a blood disorder
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Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder.