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🤒 Slightly ill 🙅 Unwilling
indisposed

indisposed

6.9
Feeling slightly ill or unwell
  • adjective
  • /ˌɪndɪˈspoʊzd/
translation icon : indispuesto
  • The violist became indisposed with the flu just a matter of hours before the concert.

Examples

  • She felt indisposed, so she decided to stay home and rest instead of going out.

  • SHE'S INDISPOSED AT THE MOMENT.

    Supergirl (1984)

  • After catching a cold, he was indisposed for a few days and couldn't attend the meetings.

  • The teacher was indisposed today, so the class was canceled.

Synonyms

sick
vsindisposed
∞ 1.0

Not well because of illness

focuses more on mild illness or unwillingness than general impairment
ill
vsindisposed
632 1.0

Not feeling well because of sickness

means a milder or temporary sickness or a refusal to act
under the weather
vsindisposed
  • Informal
21 5.3

Feeling slightly ill and not your usual self

is the neutral term that also includes being unwilling or mildly ill
unwell
vsindisposed
18 1.0

Feeling slightly sick or uncomfortable

also covers being unwilling to act as well as mild illness
ailing
vsindisposed
3 5.6

Having poor health and often getting sick

implies a milder temporary sickness or reluctance rather than ongoing poor health
currently indisposed
vsindisposed
  • Formal
1 7.4

Not able to attend right now for health or personal reasons

refers instead to a mild illness or general unwillingness not just absence reasons
poorly
vsindisposed
2.8

Feeling ill or not well

has identical meaning but is a different word form

Antonyms

disposed
  • Formal
5.9

Willing or likely to do something

Compounds

currently indisposed
  • Formal
1 7.4

Not able to attend right now for health or personal reasons

How Unwell

ill
632 1.0
indisposed
6.9
unwell
18 1.0
well
142 1.0

Surface Forms

indisposed positive

Morphology

indisposed = disposed (opaque) = in + dispose + ed

The formation in- + 'disposed' is a regular negation of the adjective 'disposed' (inclined), so the morphological step is regular.

Etymology

Indisposed comes from in- 'not' and disposed, which is related to dispose and disposition and originally meant 'not inclined'. People began using it as a polite way to say someone was 'slightly ill' or 'not well', so indisposed can mean feeling unwell.