1
a
comparative also iller; superlative also illest
(1)
: not in good health
also
: nauseated
(2)
: not normal or sound
ill health
b
: causing suffering or distress
ill weather
2
: unfriendly, hostile
ill feeling
3
4
5
a
: not meeting an accepted standard
ill manners
b
archaic
: notably unskillful or inefficient
worse; worst
1
3
a
: so as to reflect unfavorably
spoke ill of the neighbors
b
: with displeasure or hostility
c
: in a harsh manner
4
: in a reprehensible manner
illustrated; illustration; illustrator
Illinois
Synonyms
Adjective
Adverb
Noun
Examples of ill in a Sentence
Adjective
That dog can eat almost anything with no ill effects.
They had been subjected to months of ill treatment.
Adverb
He is being ill served by his advisers.
Please don't think ill of me.
He was a good man who never spoke ill of anyone.
Noun
chicken pox and the other ills that were once a fixture of childhood
idealistic people who try to cure all of our society's ills
Recent Examples on the Web
Pino Gagliardi, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2024
In Illinois, health officials are warning medical providers to be on the alert for patients with botulism after two people became ill and were hospitalized with symptoms including blurred vision, droopy face and difficulty breathing.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2024
Editors’ Picks By the 1840s, there were some high-profile trials in cases where women who had or sought abortions became very ill or died.
—Pam Belluck, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
Police need specialized training on how to interact with teens and children, including mentally ill and special needs youth.
—Pamela Appea, Parents, 7 Apr. 2024
Eclipses appear as ill omens in Shakespeare and, of course, the Bible.
—John Penner, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024
Over the next several months, NBC News uncovered cases of six other men, many of them homeless, mentally ill or addicted to drugs, who had been buried in the pauper’s field while their families looked for them.
—Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024
Unfortunately, his schoolteacher became ill after five months of his attendance.
—USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
Flaherty was ill prior to his death and chose to spend the remainder of his life at home instead of a care facility.
—Jaden Thompson, Variety, 2 Apr. 2024
David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
Doctors are sounding the alarms after a woman from Tunisia fell ill following multiple hair-straightening treatments at a salon.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024
Texas dairy farmers first became concerned about three weeks ago when their cattle began falling ill.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2024
The move followed reports in the 1970s that thousands of infants in impoverished countries were falling ill and dying after drinking formula.
—Heather Vogell, ProPublica, 21 Mar. 2024
In 2016, Patrick fell ill with cancer, and Mike welcomed him home to Shreveport.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024
In December 2010, Nick told The Ledger Independent that Ada would serve as the grand marshal of Augusta’s White Christmas parade in place of Rosemary’s husband Dante DiPaolo, who fell ill prior to the event.
—Nicole Briese, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024
But certain high-risk individuals can fall seriously ill.
—Melinda Wenner Moyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2024
The brother of Stefanie Smith — the 41-year-old woman who suddenly died after falling ill on an American Airlines flight from the Dominican Republic last week — shares how the family is still uncertain about what caused her death.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 9 Mar. 2024
Emma Goldberg, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2024
In what sounds like the premise for a Wes Anderson movie, Blitz decided that the way to cure the ills of civilization that haunted postwar Europe was to take city dwellers into a pristine natural setting and remove the trappings of social status.
—Tony Perrottet, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Mar. 2024
All these social ills have worsened, and the collapse is more than moral.
—Dominic Green, Washington Examiner, 12 Jan. 2024
Her character’s cleansing disgust exudes the thorny defiance so many of us recognize as a principled protest to insurmountable economic, social and political ills.
—Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
The isolation of the pandemic also caused a surge of social ills in the U.S., including increases in deaths from alcohol, drugs, vehicle crashes and murders.
—David Leonhardt, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024
Fixing the GOP’s dwindling pipeline of talent, and the party’s broader ills, is an even harder task.
—Elizabeth N. Saunders, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
The Claudine Gay scandal, culminating in the Harvard president’s resignation, shows the intersection of DEI and academic corruption produces assorted social ills.
—Tim Rosenberger, Orange County Register, 7 Feb. 2024
For all of California’s ills and hardships, nothing animated the state’s left-leaning electorate in this year’s Senate race more than the specter of former President Trump returning to the White House.
—Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Adjective
The famous fashion designer had been ill for a long time, leaving and entering the hospital more and more often for ritual checkups, his family told The Hollywood Reporter.
—Pino Gagliardi, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2024
In Illinois, health officials are warning medical providers to be on the alert for patients with botulism after two people became ill and were hospitalized with symptoms including blurred vision, droopy face and difficulty breathing.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2024
Editors’ Picks By the 1840s, there were some high-profile trials in cases where women who had or sought abortions became very ill or died.
—Pam Belluck, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
Police need specialized training on how to interact with teens and children, including mentally ill and special needs youth.
—Pamela Appea, Parents, 7 Apr. 2024
Eclipses appear as ill omens in Shakespeare and, of course, the Bible.
—John Penner, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024
Over the next several months, NBC News uncovered cases of six other men, many of them homeless, mentally ill or addicted to drugs, who had been buried in the pauper’s field while their families looked for them.
—Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024
Unfortunately, his schoolteacher became ill after five months of his attendance.
—USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
Flaherty was ill prior to his death and chose to spend the remainder of his life at home instead of a care facility.
—Jaden Thompson, Variety, 2 Apr. 2024
Adverb
Chan’s first trial ended in a mistrial after his then-attorney fell ill.
— TALKING TAXES: An alliance of civic groups wants to put a measure on the Los Angeles County ballot this fall that would double the sales tax that’s being collected to pay for homeless services.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
Doctors are sounding the alarms after a woman from Tunisia fell ill following multiple hair-straightening treatments at a salon.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024
Texas dairy farmers first became concerned about three weeks ago when their cattle began falling ill.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2024
The move followed reports in the 1970s that thousands of infants in impoverished countries were falling ill and dying after drinking formula.
—Heather Vogell, ProPublica, 21 Mar. 2024
In 2016, Patrick fell ill with cancer, and Mike welcomed him home to Shreveport.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024
In December 2010, Nick told The Ledger Independent that Ada would serve as the grand marshal of Augusta’s White Christmas parade in place of Rosemary’s husband Dante DiPaolo, who fell ill prior to the event.
—Nicole Briese, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024
But certain high-risk individuals can fall seriously ill.
—Melinda Wenner Moyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2024
The brother of Stefanie Smith — the 41-year-old woman who suddenly died after falling ill on an American Airlines flight from the Dominican Republic last week — shares how the family is still uncertain about what caused her death.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 9 Mar. 2024
Noun
And his work has drawn acolytes who would like to think so, too — including some of the very people in big tech whose work Mr. Haidt seems to hold responsible for the rising generation’s social ills.
—Emma Goldberg, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2024
In what sounds like the premise for a Wes Anderson movie, Blitz decided that the way to cure the ills of civilization that haunted postwar Europe was to take city dwellers into a pristine natural setting and remove the trappings of social status.
—Tony Perrottet, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Mar. 2024
All these social ills have worsened, and the collapse is more than moral.
—Dominic Green, Washington Examiner, 12 Jan. 2024
Her character’s cleansing disgust exudes the thorny defiance so many of us recognize as a principled protest to insurmountable economic, social and political ills.
—Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
The isolation of the pandemic also caused a surge of social ills in the U.S., including increases in deaths from alcohol, drugs, vehicle crashes and murders.
—David Leonhardt, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024
Fixing the GOP’s dwindling pipeline of talent, and the party’s broader ills, is an even harder task.
—Elizabeth N. Saunders, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
The Claudine Gay scandal, culminating in the Harvard president’s resignation, shows the intersection of DEI and academic corruption produces assorted social ills.
—Tim Rosenberger, Orange County Register, 7 Feb. 2024
For all of California’s ills and hardships, nothing animated the state’s left-leaning electorate in this year’s Senate race more than the specter of former President Trump returning to the White House.
—Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ill.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English, from Old Norse illr
First Known Use
Adjective
12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4c
Adverb
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3b
Noun
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3
Time Traveler
The first known use of ill was
in the 12th century
Phrases Containing ill
Dictionary Entries Near ill
Cite this Entry
“Ill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ill. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
ill
1 of 3 adjective1
: meant to do harm or evil
ill deeds
2
a
: causing suffering or distress
ill weather
b
: not normal or sound
ill health
c
: not being in good health
had been ill for some years
d
: affected by nausea
3
: not helpful to one : unlucky
an ill omen
4
: not right or proper
ill manners
5
: not kind or friendly
ill feeling
never said an ill word
ill
2 of 3 adverb
worse; worst
1
a
: with displeasure or anger
the remark was ill received
b
: in a harsh manner
treated me ill
2
: in a way that deserves blame
an ill-spent youth
ill-gotten gains
3
: hardly sense 3, scarcely
can ill afford it
ill
3 of 3 noun1
: the opposite of good : evil
2
a
: sickness sense 2
childhood ills
b
: trouble entry 2 sense 1a
the ills of society
Medical Definition
Geographical Definition
Ill
geographical name
river 129 miles (208 kilometers) long in northeastern France flowing into the Rhine River
More from Merriam-Webster on ill
Nglish: Translation of ill for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of ill for Arabic Speakers
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