catastrophic illness
1
4.9
- noun
- /ˌkætəˈstrɑfɪk ˈɪl.nəs/
- Specialized
:
enfermedad catastrófica
- Many people worry about their savings being depleted by a catastrophic illness requiring long-term care.
- catastrophic illness coverage
- catastrophic illness or accident
Examples
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After being diagnosed with a catastrophic illness, she had to spend months in the hospital.
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Health insurance is supposed to provide individuals access to quality health care and ensure protection against financial calamity due to a catastrophic illness or injury.
Blog text (27) -
Yet neither the 1963 nor the 1965 proposal provided coverage for catastrophic illness.
Academic text (1997) -
Not covered were physicians' services outside the hospital, catastrophic illness that lasted more than 60 days, and therapeutic drugs.
Academic text (1997) -
37 million Americans are without protectin against catastrophic illness.
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And we've worked with women that have been through catastrophic illness or, or through financial hardship and a lot of times beyond their control.
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One of the major reasons to pay to help others in society is because a catastrophic illness in a loved one or even the caller can lead to bankruptcy very, very fast and loss of insurance.
Blog text (14) -
The most pressing rationale for compulsory health insurance continually put forward by government officials and echoed by the public was the specter that responsible older people could be ruined financially by catastrophic illness.
Academic text (1997) -
A catastrophic illness can lead to enormous medical expenses that families struggle to pay.
Synonyms
13
3.0
A health problem that is very bad and may last a long time
Antonyms
How Severe
66
4.3
- Specialized
1
4.9
13
3.0
63
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'catastrophic' (resulting in sudden and severe harm) modifies 'illness' (a disease), yielding the straightforward idea of a very severe, harmful disease. This adjective+noun combination follows normal English semantics and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Catastrophic illness comes from the image of a sudden disaster: catastrophic means a big, sudden disaster and illness means sickness. That's why it means 'a very serious illness that needs long care and costs a lot'.