VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

I was diagnosed

verb·Academic

Last updated

UK/aɪ wəz ˈdaɪəɡnəʊzd/
US/aɪ wəz ˌdaɪəɡˈnoʊst/

Meanings

  1. verbtransitivemedical

    A doctor identified an illness or condition in me after tests or examination.

    Grammar: Passive form of "diagnose"; usually followed by "with" plus the condition: "I was diagnosed with asthma".

    Patterns

    • I was diagnosed with something
    • be diagnosed with something
    • be diagnosed as having something

    I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was thirty.

    I was diagnosed after a routine blood test at my local clinic.

    She was diagnosed as having a mild allergy to nuts.

  2. verbtransitivemedicaltechnical

    Someone identified what was wrong with me or with something I have.

    Grammar: Used for machines and problems too: "the car was diagnosed with a faulty sensor" is possible but less common than "the problem was diagnosed".

    Patterns

    • be diagnosed by someone
    • be diagnosed at a hospital

    I was diagnosed by a specialist at the city hospital.

    The fault was diagnosed by an engineer within an hour.

Word forms

base formdiagnose
third person singulardiagnoses
past tensediagnosed
past participlediagnosed
-ing formdiagnosing

Common combinations

be diagnosed with a disease
He was diagnosed with a rare disease last year.
be diagnosed early
If the illness is diagnosed early, treatment works better.
be diagnosed as having something
She was diagnosed as having high blood pressure.
newly diagnosed
The clinic runs a support group for newly diagnosed patients.
be diagnosed by a doctor
I was diagnosed by a doctor at the walk-in center.

Synonyms and how they differ

identify
"Identify" is general and can apply to anything; "diagnose" is mainly for illnesses and faults.
find
"Find" is plain and vague; "diagnose" suggests a careful medical judgment.

Word family

diagnose verb
The active verb meaning to identify an illness or problem.
diagnosis noun
The name of the illness or the act of identifying it.
diagnostic adjective
Describing tests or tools used to find out what is wrong.

Commonly confused: I was diagnosed or diagnose?

I was diagnosed vs diagnose

Do not confuse with "prognosis", which is a prediction about how an illness will develop.

Practice

Which sentence is correct?

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “I was diagnosed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words