mental illness

noun

The property of being mentally ill; mental disorders taken as a whole.

Similar
mental diseasepsychopathy
Opposite
mental health
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Meanings

nounmental illness (countable and uncountable, plural mental illnesses)

plural mental illnesses

  1. uncountablehuman sciencesThe property of being mentally ill; mental disorders taken as a whole.

    Such studies show that geniuses are not any more likely to suffer from mental illness than the rest of us.

    2006, R. Keith Sawyer, Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation, Oxford University Press US, →ISBN, page 87
  2. countablehuman sciencesA mental disorder.

    Epilepsy is not a mental illness. It is caused by electrical changes in the brain.

    2002, Vikram Patel, Where There is No Psychiatrist: A Mental Health Care Manual, RCPsych Publications, →ISBN, page 70

Synonyms & antonyms

nounany disease of the mind; the psychological state of someone who has emotional or behavioral problems serious enough to require psychiatric intervention

Similar
mental diseasepsychopathy
Opposite
mental health
Broader
psychological statepsychological conditionmental state
Also see
insanitymadnessmental diseasemental disorderpsychopathy

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Arabic مرض نفسي
  • مرض نفسيproperty (uncountable)
Catalan malaltia mental
  • malaltia mentalproperty (uncountable)
Chinese Mandarin 精神病, 精神病
  • 精神病 (jīngshénbìng)property (uncountable)
  • 精神病 (jīngshénbìng)mental disorder (countable)
Czech duševní choroba
  • duševní chorobamental disorder (countable)
Danish sindssygdom, psykisk sygdom
  • sindssygdomproperty (uncountable)
  • psykisk sygdommental disorder (countable)
Finnish mielisairaus, mielisairaus
  • mielisairausproperty (uncountable)
  • mielisairausmental disorder (countable)
French maladie mentale, maladie mentale
  • maladie mentaleproperty (uncountable)
  • maladie mentalemental disorder (countable)
  • trouble mentalmental disorder (countable)
  • trouble psychiquemental disorder (countable)
German Geisteskrankheit
  • Geisteskrankheitproperty (uncountable)
Hindi मानसिक रोग, मनोविकार
  • मानसिक रोग (mānsik rog)property (uncountable)
  • मनोविकार (manovikār)property (uncountable)
  • मनोरोग (manorog)property (uncountable)
  • मनोरोग (manorog)mental disorder (countable)
  • मनोविकार (manovikār)mental disorder (countable)
  • मानसिक रोग (mānsik rog)mental disorder (countable)
Hungarian mentális zavar, mentális zavar
  • mentális zavarproperty (uncountable)
  • mentális zavarmental disorder (countable)
Icelandic geðveiki, geðsjúkdómur
  • geðveikiproperty (uncountable)
  • geðsjúkdómurmental disorder (countable)
Italian disturbo mentale, malattia mentale
  • disturbo mentalemental disorder (countable)
  • malattia mentalemental disorder (countable)
Japanese 精神疾患, 精神病
  • 精神疾患 (seishin shikkan)property (uncountable)
  • 精神病 (seishinbyō)property (uncountable)
Norwegian Bokmål sinnssykdom, sinnssykdom
  • sinnssykdomproperty (uncountable)
  • sinnssykdommental disorder (countable)
Polish zaburzenie psychiczne, choroba psychiczna
  • zaburzenie psychiczneproperty (uncountable)
  • choroba psychicznaproperty (uncountable)
  • zaburzenie psychicznemental disorder (countable)
  • choroba psychicznamental disorder (countable)
Portuguese doença mental, doença mental
  • doença mentalproperty (uncountable)
  • doença mentalmental disorder (countable)
  • transtorno mentalmental disorder (countable)
  • distúrbio mentalmental disorder (countable)
Russian душе́вная боле́знь, психи́ческое заболева́ние
  • душе́вная боле́знь (dušévnaja boléznʹ)property (uncountable)
  • психи́ческое заболева́ние (psixíčeskoje zabolevánije)property (uncountable)
  • помеша́тельство (pomešátelʹstvo)property (uncountable)
  • психи́ческое расстро́йство (psixíčeskoje rasstrójstvo)property (uncountable)
  • душе́вная боле́знь (dušévnaja boléznʹ)mental disorder (countable)
  • психи́ческое заболева́ние (psixíčeskoje zabolevánije)mental disorder (countable)
Scottish Gaelic tinneas-inntinn, tinneas-inntinn
  • tinneas-inntinnproperty (uncountable)
  • tinneas-inntinnmental disorder (countable)
Spanish enfermedad mental, enfermedad mental
  • enfermedad mentalproperty (uncountable)
  • enfermedad mentalmental disorder (countable)
Swedish mentalsjukdom, sinnessjukdom
  • mentalsjukdommental disorder (countable)
  • sinnessjukdommental disorder (countable)
Tagalog isipning karamdaman, isipning karamdaman
  • isipning karamdamanproperty (uncountable)
  • isipning karamdamanmental disorder (countable)
Thai ความเจ็บป่วยทางจิตใจ, โรคจิต
  • ความเจ็บป่วยทางจิตใจ (kwaam-jèp-bpùuai-taang-jìt-jai)mental disorder (countable)
  • โรคจิต (rôok-jìt)mental disorder (countable)
Ukrainian пси́хічне захво́рювання
  • пси́хічне захво́рювання (psýxične zaxvórjuvannja)property (uncountable)
Cite this entry
APA

mental illness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mental%20illness

MLA

“mental illness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mental%20illness. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mental illness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mental%20illness.

Source: mental illness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.