ill

Ill.

Use ill in a sentence

This man is ill.

adjective

Ill means sick or not healthy.
An example of an ill person is someone with pneumonia.

adverb

Ill is defined as in a bad or wrong way.
An example of ill used as an adverb is the phrase "ill advised" which means given improper or poor advice.

noun

The definition of an ill is an evil or a misfortune.
An example of an ill is a natural disaster like a flood.

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ill

adjective

worse, worst

characterized by, causing, or tending to cause harm or evil; specif.,
1. morally bad or wrong; evil: a person of ill repute
2. causing pain, hardship, etc.; adverse: ill fortune
3. not kind or friendly; harsh; cruel: ill will
4. promising trouble; unfavorable; unfortunate; unpropitious: an ill omen
not healthy, normal, or well; having a disease; sick; indisposed
not according to rule, custom, desirability, etc.; faulty; imperfect: ill breeding

Origin of ill

Middle English from Old Norse illr (replacing Old English yfel, evil, in many senses): probably from Germanic an unverified form ilhila from Indo-European base an unverified form elk-, hungry, bad from source Old Irish elc, bad

evil or misfortune
anything causing harm, trouble, wrong, pain, unhappiness, etc.

adverb

worse, worst

in an ill manner; specif.,
1. badly; wrongly; improperly; imperfectly: ill-gotten gains
2. harshly; cruelly; unkindly: to speak ill of someone
3. Now Rare with annoyance or offense: he took her remarks ill
with difficulty; scarcely: they can ill afford to refuse

ill Idioms

ill at ease

uneasy; uncomfortable

illustrated
illustration
illustrator

Ill

Illinois

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"ill." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ill>.

APA Style

ill. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ill

ill

adjective

worse, worst,

Not healthy; sick: I began to feel ill last week.
Not normal; unsound: an ill condition of body and mind.
Resulting in suffering; harmful or distressing: the ill effects of a misconceived policy.
a. Resulting from or suggestive of evil intentions: ill deeds committed out of spite.
b. Ascribing an objectionable quality: holds an ill view of that political group.
c. Hostile or unfriendly: ill feeling between rivals.
d. Harmful; pernicious: the ill effects of a misconceived policy.
Not favorable; unpropitious: ill predictions.
Not measuring up to recognized standards of excellence, as of behavior or conduct: ill manners.
Slang Excellent; outstanding: Your new car is really ill!

adverb

worse, worst

In a bad, inadequate, or improper way. Often used in combination: My words were ill-chosen.
In an unfavorable way; unpropitiously: a statistic that bodes ill for job growth.
Scarcely or with difficulty: We can ill afford another mistake.

noun

Evil, wrongdoing, or harm: the ill that befell the townspeople.
Something that causes suffering; trouble: the social ills of urban life.
Something that reflects in an unfavorable way on one: Please don't speak ill of me when I'm gone.
used with a pl. verb Sick people considered as a group. Often used with the.

Origin of ill

Middle English from Old Norse īllr bad

ill.

abbreviation

illustrated
illustration
illustrator

Ill.

abbreviation

Illinois

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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"ill." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ill>.

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ill. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ill

Adjective

(comparative more ill, superlative most ill)

(archaic) Morally reprehensible (of behaviour etc.); blameworthy. [from 13th c.]
Indicative of unkind or malevolent intentions; harsh, cruel. [from 14th c.]
He suffered from ill treatment.
Unpropitious, unkind, faulty, not up to reasonable standard.
ill manners; ill will
Unwell in terms of health or physical condition; sick. [from 15th c.]
I've been ill with the flu for the past few days.
Having an urge to vomit. [from 20th c.]
Seeing those pictures made me ill.
(hip-hop slang) Sublime, with the connotation of being so in a singularly creative way. [This sense sometimes declines in AAVE as ill, comparative iller, superlative illest.]
(slang) Extremely bad (bad enough to make one ill). Generally used indirectly with to be.
That band was ill.

Usage notes

The comparative forms iller and illest are used in American English, but less than one fourth as frequently as the "more" and "most" forms.

Adverb

(comparative more ill, superlative most ill)

Not well; imperfectly, badly; hardly.

well

Noun

(plural ills)

(often pluralized) Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.
Music won't solve all the world's ills, but it can make them easier to bear.
Harm or injury.
I wouldn't want you to do me ill.
Evil; moral wrongfulness.
A physical ailment; an illness.
I am incapacitated by rheumatism and other ills.
Unfavorable remarks or opinions.
Do not speak ill of the dead.
(US, slang) PCP, phencyclidine.

Origin

Middle English ille ‘evil, wicked’, from Old Norse illr (adj.), illa (adv.), ilt (noun) (whence Danish ilde), from Proto-Germanic *elhilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁elḱ- (whence Latin ulcus ‘sore’, Ancient Greek hélkos ‘wound, ulcer’, Sanskrit árśas ‘hemorrhoids’).

See also: I'll

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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ill. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ill

ill - Medical Definition

adj.

worse (wûrs) worst (wûrst)

Not healthy; sick: I began to feel ill last week.
Not normal; unsound: an ill condition of body and mind.

n.

used with a pl. verb Sick people considered as a group. Often used with the.

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MLA Style

"ill." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 16 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ill>.

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ill. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Ill

Synonyms

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ill - Medical Definition

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Ill.

ill - Medical Definition

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