adoecer

Adoecer is a verb used in Spanish and Portuguese to describe becoming ill or losing health. It can refer to a temporary sickness or a chronic condition, and in both languages it may be used in a figurative sense to indicate a deficiency or problem affecting a person, a group, or a system.

In Spanish, adoecer is relatively formal or literary. It expresses that someone has fallen ill, often with a named illness: for example, a phrase such as “el enfermo adoleció de fiebre” can appear in literary or historical texts. In everyday speech, speakers more commonly say “enfermarse” or “ponerse enfermo.” The verb can also appear in expressions that describe broader problems, such as a country or organization that adolece of structural weaknesses, although this usage is more literary or rhetorical.

In Portuguese, adoecer is standard and neutral. It denotes becoming ill or contracting a disease: for instance, “Ela adoeceu recentemente” or “ele ficou doente.” It is used across registers, including medical writing, and can be followed by the name of the illness or used with de in some contexts, as in “adoecer de pneumonia.”

Synonyms and related terms include enfermarse and ficar doente in Portuguese and Spanish, respectively. Antonyms include recuperar-se or estar saudável. Adoecer remains more common in formal, literary, or clinical contexts, with everyday speech favoring simpler verbs for illness.