What does "ill" mean?
Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.
Ill
/ɪl/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.
- Grammar: ill is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: sick, abomination, affected areas, affection.
- Useful contrasts: fine, good, hale.
- Usage evidence: I think you'd better take a rest; you look ill.
How to use "ill"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "ill" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "ill" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "ill" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "ill" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "ill" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "sick" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "ill", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity. countable, uncountable
"Music won't solve all the world's ills, but it can make them easier to bear."
- 2 Initialism of interlibrary loan. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 3 an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining wordnet
- 4 Harm or injury. countable, uncountable
"I wouldn't want you to do me ill."
- 5 Evil; moral wrongfulness. countable, uncountable
"Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still, / Exerts itself, and then throws off the ill."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 A physical ailment; an illness. countable, uncountable
"I am incapacitated by rheumatism and other ills."
- 7 PCP, phencyclidine. US, slang, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To behave aggressively. dated, intransitive, slang
"D.M.C.: You been illin' lately. Run: So, I'm illin'. Am I illin'? Chillin'! You know what I'm sayin'? Chillin'."
Adjective
- 1 Evil; wicked (of people). obsolete
"St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it."
- 2 Morally reprehensible (of behaviour etc.); blameworthy. archaic
"‘Go bring her. It is ill to keep a lady waiting.’"
- 3 Indicative of unkind or malevolent intentions; harsh, cruel.
"He suffered from ill treatment."
- 4 Unpropitious, unkind, faulty, not up to reasonable standard.
"ill manners; ill will"
- 5 Unwell in terms of health or physical condition; sick.
"mentally ill people"
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 Nauseated; having an urge to vomit.
"Seeing those pictures made me ill."
- 7 Sublime, with the connotation of being so in a singularly creative way. slang
"This is the illest beat I've ever heard."
- 8 Extremely bad (bad enough to make one ill). Generally used indirectly with to be. slang
"That band was ill."
- 9 Unwise; not a good idea. dated
"Oh that when the devil and flesh entice the sinner to sport with and make a mock of sin, Prov. x. 23, he would but consider, it is ill jesting with edged tools, it is ill jesting with unquenchable burnings; […]"
- 10 Bad-tempered. Appalachia
Adjective
- 1 presaging ill fortune wordnet
- 2 distressing wordnet
- 3 resulting in suffering or adversity wordnet
- 4 indicating hostility or enmity wordnet
- 5 affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Not well; imperfectly, badly
"Such jealousy ill becomes her; she can ill afford another gaffe like that."
Adverb
- 1 (‘ill’ is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well wordnet
- 2 with difficulty or inconvenience; scarcely or hardly wordnet
- 3 unfavorably or with disapproval wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A river in France, tributary to the Rhine.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"I think you'd better take a rest; you look ill."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "ill"?
Common synonyms include: sick, abomination, affected areas, affection, afflicted, ailing.
How do you use "ill" in a sentence?
I think you'd better take a rest; you look ill.
How do you pronounce "ill"?
Pronounced /ɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English ille (“evil; wicked”), from Old Norse illr (adjective), illa (adverb), ilt (noun), from Proto-Germanic *ilhilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁elḱ- (whence Latin ulcus (“sore”), Ancient Greek ἕλκος (hélkos, “wound, ulcer”), Sanskrit अर्शस् (árśas, “hemorrhoids”)). Cognates Cognate with Scots and Yola ill, Danish ilde (“bad”), Faroese, Icelandic illur (“bad, ill, wicked”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk ille (“bad”), Swedish illa (“badly; poorly”).
Etymology 2
From French Ill.