bulimia

IPA/buˈlɪmiə/
KK[bjulˈɪmiə]IPA/buˈlɪmiə/

bulimia — noun

1. a serious mental health condition in which a person repeatedly eats very large a

1.nounB2
Definition

a serious mental health condition in which a person repeatedly eats very large amounts of food in a short time and then takes extreme steps to prevent weight gain — such as forcing themselves to vomit, taking laxatives, or exercising excessively. People with bulimia often feel a loss of control during the eating episodes and feel ashamed afterward.

Example

Dr. Okafor treated many young adults struggling with bulimia at her clinic.

collocation: treat bulimia

Leila's dentist warned her that the repeated vomiting from bulimia was causing serious damage to her teeth and throat.

cause-and-effect construction

Common collocations
  • suffer from bulimia
  • be diagnosed with bulimia
  • recover from bulimia
  • treat bulimia
  • battle bulimia
  • a bout of bulimia
  • bulimia nervosa
  • signs of bulimia
  • bulimia treatment
Synonyms
  • bulimia nervosa

    the full clinical name; identical meaning but used in medical records and diagnostic manuals

  • binge-purge syndrome

    descriptive lay term that emphasises the cyclical behaviour; less clinical

Grammar Patterns

bulimia + [singular verb]

suffer from + bulimia

diagnosed with + bulimia

Usage Note

A medical term in formal contexts; in everyday conversation, people often say 'an eating disorder called bulimia' or 'bulimia nervosa' for the full clinical name. Frequently appears with 'suffer from', 'be diagnosed with', or 'recover from'. The illness affects people of all body sizes — physical appearance alone is not a reliable indicator.

Common Mistakes

She has bulimia and always skips breakfast.
She has bulimia and often eats a large amount of food in a short time, then makes herself vomit.
Bulimia is defined by binge-eating followed by purging, not simply by skipping meals.
He is bulimic with losing weight.
He has bulimia and is obsessed with losing weight.
'Bulimic' is an adjective; 'bulimia' is the noun for the condition itself.

Word family

  • bulimic
    adjectiveB2
  • bulimic
    nounC1
  • bulimia nervosa
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Bulimia nervosa' — often shortened to 'bulimia' — shares the symptom of binge eating with 'binge eating disorder', but bulimia is distinguished by the purging behaviour (vomiting, laxatives) that follows. 'Anorexia nervosa' (anorexia) involves extreme food restriction and a distorted body image, while bulimia typically involves cycles of overeating and compensating; people with anorexia are often severely underweight, whereas those with bulimia may be at a normal weight. 'Eating disorder' is the broad category covering all of these. For example: 'She was diagnosed with bulimia after years of secretly bingeing and purging, whereas her cousin had anorexia and barely ate at all.'

bulimia ↗anorexia ↗binge eating disorder ↗eating disorder

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • suffer from bulimia
  • be diagnosed with bulimia
  • recover from bulimia
  • signs of bulimia
  • treatment for bulimia
  • a history of bulimia

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

From Greek 'bous' (ox) and 'limos' (hunger) — literally 'ox-hunger', suggesting an appetite large enough to eat an entire ox. The term entered English through medical Latin in the 19th century and was narrowed to the current eating-disorder meaning in the mid-20th century.

First known use

14th century

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2