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The noun ilk comes from the Old English pronoun ilca by way of a pronoun ilk that is still in use, but not in most modern English dialects. That ilk is synonymous with same, and persists chiefly in Scotland where it's used in the phrase "of that ilk," meaning "of the same place, territorial designation, or name." It is generally used in reference to the names of land-owning families and their eponymous estates, as in "the Grants of that ilk," which means "the Grants of Grant." In the late 1700s, the Scots phrase extended to mean "of that kind or sort," a usage that found its way into modern English.
Examples of ilk in a Sentence
Douglas B. Laney, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025
No, not of the Bam Adebayo heart-and-hustle ilk, but of the nobody-does-it-with-blocks variety.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 23 June 2025
First, the Rockets already have a crowd of young, talented players who are struggling to get minutes and don’t need another of the same ilk.
—John Hollinger, New York Times, 22 June 2025
Save for a few standard-bearers around the NBA — think the Celtics’ Payton Pritchard and the Warriors’ Stephen Curry — players of all ilk are content, generally, to let first or second-quarter buzzers end without chucking up an unlikely bomb that’d drop their field-goal percentage.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 29 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ilk
Cite this Entry
“Ilk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ilk. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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