Definitions and meaning of ill
ill
Etymology
From Middle English ille (“evil; wicked”), from Old Norse illr (adj), illa (adverb), ilt (noun) (whence Icelandic illur, Norwegian ille, Danish ilde), from Proto-Germanic *ilhilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁elk- (whence Latin ulcus (“sore”), Ancient Greek ἕλκος (hélkos, “wound, ulcer”), Sanskrit अर्शस् (árśas, “hemorrhoids”) (whence Hindi अर्श (arś)).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɪl/
-
- Rhymes: -ɪl
Adjective
ill (comparative worse or iller or more ill, superlative worst or illest or most ill)
- (obsolete) Evil; wicked (of people). [13th-19th c.]
- 1709, Francis Atterbury, A Sermon Preached before the Sons of the Clergy, at their Anniversary-Meeting, in the Church of St. Paul (December 6, 1709)
- St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it.
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- A man who is conscious of having an ill character, cannot justly be angry with those who neglect and slight him.
- (archaic) Morally reprehensible (of behaviour etc.); blameworthy. [from 13th c.]
- 1999, George RR Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam 2011, p. 2:
- ‘Go bring her. It is ill to keep a lady waiting.’
- Indicative of unkind or malevolent intentions; harsh, cruel. [from 14th c.]
- Unpropitious, unkind, faulty, not up to reasonable standard.
- Unwell in terms of health or physical condition; sick. [from 15th c.]
- Having an urge to vomit. [from 20th c.]
- (hip-hop slang) Sublime, with the connotation of being so in a singularly creative way.
- 1986, Beastie Boys, License to Ill
- 1994, Biggie Smalls, The What
- Biggie Smalls is the illest / Your style is played out, like Arnold wonderin "Whatchu talkin bout, Willis?"
- (slang) Extremely bad (bad enough to make one ill). Generally used indirectly with to be.
- (dated) Unwise; not a good idea.
- 1672, George Swinnock, The Incomparableness of God
- 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; […]
- 1914, Indian Ink (volume 1, page 32)
- They arrested everybody—and it is ill to resist a drunken Tommy with a loaded rifle!
Usage notes
- The comparative worse and superlative worst are the standard forms. The forms iller and illest are also used in American English, but are less than a quarter as frequent as "more" and "most" forms. The forms iller, illest are quite common in the slang sense "sublime".
Synonyms
- (suffering from a disease): diseased, poorly (UK), sick, under the weather (informal), unwell
- (having an urge to vomit): disgusted, nauseated, nauseous, sick, sickened
- (bad): bad, mal-
- (in hip-hop slang: sublime): dope
- See also Thesaurus:diseased
Antonyms
- (suffering from a disease): fine, hale, healthy, in good health, well
- (bad): good
- (in hip-hop slang: sublime): wack
Derived terms
Translations
References
Adverb
ill (comparative worse or more ill, superlative worst or most ill)
- Not well; imperfectly, badly; hardly.
- 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House
- Within, I found it, as I had expected, transcendently dismal. The slowly changing shadows waved on it from the heavy trees, were doleful in the last degree; the house was ill-placed, ill-built, ill-planned, and ill-fitted.
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- 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 541:
- His inflexibility and blindness ill become a leader, for a leader must temper justice with mercy.
- 2006, Julia Borossa (translator), Monique Canto-Sperber (quoted author), in Libération, 2002 February 2, quoted in Élisabeth Badinter (quoting author), Dead End Feminism, Polity, →ISBN, page 40:
- Is it because this supposes an undifferentiated violence towards others and oneself that I could ill imagine in a woman?
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
ill (countable and uncountable, plural ills)
- (often pluralized) Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.
- Harm or injury.
- Evil; moral wrongfulness.
- 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe
- Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still, / Exerts itself, and then throws off the ill.
- A physical ailment; an illness.
- (US, slang, uncountable) PCP, phencyclidine.
Derived terms
Translations
References
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
- Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.
Further reading
- ill at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Old Norse illr, from Proto-Germanic *ilhilaz. Along English ill, probably cognate with Irish olc.
Adjective
ill (masculine and feminine ill, neuter ilt, definite singular and plural ille, comparative illare, superlative indefinite illast, superlative definite illaste)
- bad
- sore
- angry, wroth
- (in compounds) strong, very
Related terms
- illa, ille (verb)
- ille (adverb)
References
- “ill” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Scots
Adjective
ill (comparative waur, superlative warst)
- ill
- bad, evil, wicked
- harsh, severe
- profane
- difficult, troublesome
- awkward, unskilled
Adverb
ill (comparative waur, superlative warst)
- ill
- badly, evilly, wickedly
- harshly, severely
- profanely
- with difficulty
- awkwardly, inexpertly
Noun
ill (plural ills)
- ill
- ill will, malice
Westrobothnian
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old Norse illr, from Proto-Germanic *ilhilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁elk-.
Adjective
ill (neuter illt)
- evil, bad
- Han iles onga
- The evil one's kids
- Ja har illt i fotom
- I have pain in my feet.
- Han har illt uti säg
- He is concerned.
- Han har illt ini säg
- He has stomach pains.
- Ji hav illt hóvudä
- I have a headache.
Derived terms
Source: wiktionary.org- unwell.
(source: Collins Scrabble Dictionary)