Meaning & use
formal diagnosis
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Meanings
nouncountable
An official identification of an illness or condition made by a qualified professional.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a formal diagnosis' or 'formal diagnoses'.
Patterns
- receive a formal diagnosis
- a formal diagnosis of something
- get a formal diagnosis
- confirm a formal diagnosis
She finally received a formal diagnosis of diabetes after several blood tests.
Without a formal diagnosis, the school cannot provide extra support.
It took two years to get a formal diagnosis for his condition.
nouncountable
An official decision or judgment about a problem or situation after careful examination.
Grammar: Used more generally for problems in organizations or systems, not only health.
Patterns
- a formal diagnosis of something
- make a formal diagnosis
- provide a formal diagnosis
The report offered a formal diagnosis of the company's financial troubles.
The engineer gave a formal diagnosis of the bridge's structural problems.
A formal diagnosis of the software failure was released to clients.
Word forms
| plural | formal diagnoses |
|---|
Common combinations
- receive a formal diagnosis
- He received a formal diagnosis of autism at age seven.
- a formal diagnosis of
- The doctor gave a formal diagnosis of pneumonia.
- seek a formal diagnosis
- Many people seek a formal diagnosis to access treatment.
- confirm a formal diagnosis
- Further scans were needed to confirm the formal diagnosis.
Synonyms and how they differ
- diagnosis
- Diagnosis alone can be informal or preliminary; 'formal diagnosis' stresses that it is official and from a qualified professional.
- assessment
- An assessment is the process of testing or evaluating; a formal diagnosis is the official conclusion that follows.
Word family
- diagnose verb
- To identify an illness or problem after examination.
- diagnostic adjective
- Relating to the process of identifying a condition.
Commonly confused: formal diagnosis or prognosis?
formal diagnosis vs prognosis
A prognosis is a prediction about how a condition will develop, not the identification of the condition itself.
Practice
After many tests, she finally ______ a formal diagnosis of the condition.
Choose one answer.
You 'receive' a diagnosis from a professional. 'Took' and 'did' do not collocate, and 'made' is used for the doctor, not the patient.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “formal diagnosis”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.