ILL
ill, inauspicious, ominous
(adjective) presaging ill fortune; âill omensâ; âill predictionsâ; âmy words with inauspicious thunderings shook heavenâ- P.B.Shelley; âa dead and ominous silence prevailedâ; âa by-election at a time highly unpropitious for the Governmentâ
ill
(adjective) distressing; âill mannersâ; âof ill reputeâ
ill
(adjective) resulting in suffering or adversity; âill effectsâ; âitâs an ill wind that blows no goodâ
ill
(adjective) indicating hostility or enmity; âyou certainly did me an ill turnâ; âill feelingsâ; âill willâ
ill, sick
(adjective) affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function; âill from the monotony of his sufferingâ
ill, badly, poorly
(adverb) (âillâ is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well; âhe was ill preparedâ; âit ill befits a man to betray old friendsâ; âthe car runs badlyâ; âhe performed badly on the examâ; âthe team played poorlyâ; âill-fitting clothesâ; âan ill-conceived planâ
ill
(adverb) with difficulty or inconvenience; scarcely or hardly; âwe can ill afford to buy a new car just nowâ
ill, badly
(adverb) unfavorably or with disapproval; âtried not to speak ill of the deadâ; âthought badly of him for his lack of concernâ
ailment, complaint, ill
(noun) an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
ill (comparative worse or iller or more ill, superlative most ill or worst or illest)
(obsolete) Evil; wicked (of people). [13th-19th c.]
(archaic) Morally reprehensible (of behaviour etc.); blameworthy. [from 13th c.]
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.
(slang) Extremely bad (bad enough to make one ill). Generally used indirectly with to be.
(dated) Unwise; not a good idea.
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 diseased
Antonyms
• (suffering from a disease): fine, hale, healthy, in good health, well
• (bad): good
• (in hip-hop slang: sublime): wack
Adverb
ill (comparative worse or more ill, superlative most ill or worst)
Not well; imperfectly, badly; hardly.
Synonyms
• illy
Antonyms
• well
Noun
ill (countable and uncountable, plural ills)
(often pluralized) Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.
Harm or injury.
Evil; moral wrongfulness.
A physical ailment; an illness.
(US, slang, uncountable) PCP, phencyclidine.
Anagrams
• Lil, li'l, li'l', lil
Source: Wiktionary
Ill, a. [The regular comparative and superlative are wanting, their
places being supplied by worse ( and worst (, from another root.]
Etym: [OE. ill, ille, Icel. illr; akin to Sw. illa, adv., Dan. ilde,
adv.]
1. Contrary to good, in a physical sense; contrary or opposed to
advantage, happiness, etc.; bad; evil; unfortunate; disagreeable;
unfavorable.
Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill
markets, and ill neighbors. Bacon.
There 's some ill planet reigns. Shak.
2. Contrary to good, in a moral sense; evil; wicked; wrong;
iniquitious; naughtly; bad; improper.
Of his own body he was ill, and gave The clergy ill example. Shak.
3. Sick; indisposed; unwell; diseased; disordered; as, ill of a
fever.
I am in health, I breathe, and see thee ill. Shak.
4. Not according with rule, fitness, or propriety; incorrect; rude;
unpolished; inelegant.
That 's an ill phrase. Shak.
Ill at ease, uneasy; uncomfortable; anxious. "I am very ill at ease."
Shak.
– Ill blood, enmity; resentment.
– Ill breeding, want of good breeding; rudeness.
– Ill fame, ill or bad repute; as, a house of ill fame, a house
where lewd persons meet for illicit intercourse.
– Ill humor, a disagreeable mood; bad temper.
– Ill nature, bad disposition or temperament; sullenness; esp., a
disposition to cause unhappiness to others.
– Ill temper, anger; moroseness; crossness.
– Ill turn. (a) An unkind act. (b) A slight attack of illness.
[Colloq. U.S.] -- Ill will, unkindness; enmity; malevolence.
Syn.
– Bad; evil; wrong; wicked; sick; unwell.
Ill, n.
1. Whatever annoys or impairs happiness, or prevents success; evil of
any kind; misfortune; calamity; disease; pain; as, the ills of
humanity.
Who can all sense of others' ills escape Is but a brute at best in
human shape. Tate.
That makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that
we know not of. Shak.
2. Whatever is contrary to good, in a moral sense; wickedness;
depravity; iniquity; wrong; evil.
Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still, Exerts itself,
and then throws off the ill. Dryden.
Ill, adv.
Definition: In a ill manner; badly; weakly.
How ill this taper burns! Shak.
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth
accumulates and men decay. Goldsmith.
Note: Ill, like above, well, and so, is used before many participal
adjectives, in its usual adverbal sense. When the two words are used
as an epithet preceding the noun qualified they are commonly
hyphened; in other cases they are written separatively; as, an ill-
educated man; he was ill educated; an ill-formed plan; the plan,
however ill formed, was acceptable. Ao, also, the following: ill-
affected or ill affected, ill-arranged or ill arranged, ill-assorted
or ill assorted, ill-boding or ill boding, ill-bred or ill bred, ill-
conditioned, ill-conducted, ill-considered, ill-devised, ill-
disposed, ill-doing, ill-fairing, ill-fated, ill-favored, ill-
featured, ill-formed, ill-gotten, ill-imagined, ill-judged, ill-
looking, ill-mannered, ill-matched, ill-meaning, ill-minded, ill-
natured, ill-omened, ill-proportioned, ill-provided, ill-required,
ill-sorted, ill-starred, ill-tempered, ill-timed, ill-trained, ill-
used, and the like.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition