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ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Ill

/ɪl/ · adjective

Meaning

(obsolete) Evil; wicked (of people)..

Definitions by Sense

  1. (obsolete) Evil; wicked (of people).
  2. (archaic) Morally reprehensible (of behaviour etc.); blameworthy.
  3. Indicative of unkind or malevolent intentions; harsh, cruel.
  4. Unpropitious, unkind, faulty, not up to reasonable standard.
  5. Unwell in terms of health or physical condition; sick.
  6. Nauseated; having an urge to vomit.
  7. (slang, chiefly hip-hop) Sublime, with the connotation of being so in a singularly creative way.
  8. (slang) Extremely bad (bad enough to make one ill). Generally used indirectly with to be.

Example Sentences

St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it.
A man who is conscious of having an ill character, cannot justly be angry with those who neglect and slight him.
‘Go bring her. It is ill to keep a lady waiting.’
He suffered from ill treatment.
ill manners; ill will
[…]his lordship was out of humour. That was the way Chollacombe described as knaggy an old gager as ever Charles had had the ill-fortune to serve. Stiff-rumped, that's what he was, always rubbing the rust, or riding grub, like he had been for months past.
mentally ill people
I've been ill with the flu for the past few days.

Synonyms for ill

Antonyms for ill

Related Words

Word Forms

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does ill mean?

Ill means (obsolete) Evil; wicked (of people)..

What is a synonym for ill?

Common synonyms include diseased, poorly, sick, under the weather.

What is the opposite of ill?

Possible antonyms include fine, hale, healthy, in good health.

How do you use ill in a sentence?

St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it.

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.