Morbidity

Morbidity is any physical or psychological state considered to be outside the realm of normal well-being. The term morbidity is often used to describe illness, impairment, or degradation of health, especially when discussing chronic and age-related diseases which can worsen over time.

Although we’d all love to think we’ll be able to live forever, at some point, we will die. And there’s no way of knowing exactly when that will be. Yes, it’s gloomy to think about this … but is it our morbidity or our mortality that we need to come to terms with?

The correct answer here is mortality—although the topic is quite morbid. These two nouns are similar, in the sense that they are dark and often deal with sickness or death. However, they have distinct meanings within this heavier topic, and they can’t be interchanged.