falling ill
Coming down with
Falling ill means becoming sick.
The phrase treats illness as something one descends into, like falling asleep or falling in love: She fell ill during the trip and had to cut it short.
More common in British English and formal contexts than everyday American speech, where "getting sick" predominates.
- poorlyIn an inferior way
- ailingIn poor health
- under the weatherMildly sick or unwell
- sickUnwell or impressively cool
- unwellExperiencing poor health
coming down with · catching a cold · indisposed · disease · nausea · symptoms · fever · bad · infection · virus · chronic condition · unhealthy · bacteria · caregiving · ailment · doctor's visit · bed rest · stigma
health trajectory
falling illrecovering
Regaining health or strength
getting better · healing · recuperating · convalescing · bouncing back
fall, ill, falls, fell, fallen, falling, faller, downfall, rainfall