ill 1 of 3

adjective

ˈil How to pronounce ill (audio)
Definition of illnext
1
as in sick
affected with nausea she grew ill from the constant rocking motion of the boat

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in harmful
causing or capable of causing harm one of the ill effects of winter weather is the rapid spread of germs as people spend more time together indoors

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in poorly
temporarily suffering from a disorder of the body since I'm ill, I guess that I'll just have to miss that dental appointment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in poor
falling short of a standard such ill behavior will not be tolerated

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in ominous
being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come the abrupt breakdown of negotiations appears to be an ill omen for this ongoing hostage situation

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

ill

2 of 3

adverb

1
as in severely
in a manner so as to cause loss or suffering in those days society treated debtors very ill, even going so far as to put them in prison

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in no
certainly not you can ill afford to miss another day of work

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

ill

3 of 3

noun

1
as in disease
an abnormal state that disrupts a plant's or animal's normal bodily functioning chicken pox and the other ills that were once a fixture of childhood

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in evil
that which is morally unacceptable idealistic people who try to cure all of our society's ills

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in misfortune
bad luck or an example of this the travelers merrily set off on their journey, scarcely imagining the ills that would befall them

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ill
Adjective
Butler denied having felt ill, and no alcohol or common street drugs were in his system, the affidavit said. — Reuters, NBC news, 3 July 2026 While anyone can get sick, young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to become seriously ill. — Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 July 2026
Adverb
Lionel Richie is pausing his return to the stage after abruptly falling ill during the opening of his new tour. — Edward Segarra, USA Today, 27 June 2026 Medetomidine causes excruciating, complicated withdrawal symptoms, often within hours of someone’s last dose, and many institutions are ill-prepared to treat them. — Hannah Harris Green, STAT, 26 June 2026
Noun
Through humor, the master is about to expose humanity's ills. — Rance Collins, Entertainment Weekly, 28 June 2026 Of course, some of society’s foremost ills in 2026 owe themselves to the World Wide Web. — Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 22 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for ill
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ill
  1. sick
  2. harmful
  3. poorly
  4. poor
  5. ominous
  6. severely
  7. no
  8. disease
Adjective
  • If a sick animal did end up at a slaughterhouse, the US Department of Agriculture’s thorough meat inspection system would very likely spot it, separate it from others and deem it US Suspect.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
  • But when McGinley was a teen-ager, Michael became sick with AIDS and moved home to New Jersey.
    — Chris Wiley, New Yorker, 4 July 2026
Definition of sick
Adjective
  • Nevertheless, there are several measures that gardeners can take to keep themselves, their children, plants and produce safe from potentially harmful contaminants stemming from the fire.
    — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
  • Advertisement If sleep deprivation is harmful, do studies where people are asked to sleep longer show a beneficial effect?
    — Veronique Greenwood, Time, 8 July 2026
Definition of harmful
Adjective
  • This fragmented model creates friction and quietly drains profitability through unbilled hours, margin erosion from poorly staffed projects and elevated turnover when top talent hits operational roadblocks.
    — DJ Paoni, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
  • For however poorly things are going — and the bad tone set by the starters has leaked into some defensive lapses and some pressing at the plate — the Padres got themselves into a really favorable position before this.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Sep. 2025
Definition of poorly
Adjective
  • Overflowing poor drainage areas in urban areas of northwest Hickory and in the Northlakes area of Caldwell County.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 7 July 2026
  • There was a lot of poor decision-making with this match, on and off the pitch.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
Definition of poor
Adjective
  • If the sky turns ominous and thunder can be heard, find a secure place for shelter.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 6 July 2026
  • Instead, Mike Maignan got a confidence boost, Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue combined for France’s fourth, and the favourites look more ominous than ever.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of ominous
Adverb
  • But the dramatic cut in drug production was also due in part to farmers being given alternative crops to the cultivation of opium poppies, De Croo said, noting that funding for such programs had been severely curtailed.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026
  • However, local journalism's ability to cover these profound changes is severely declining, with a 75% drop in local reporting since the early 2000s.
    — Shalin Jyotishi, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of severely
Adverb
  • And this year was no different as 30,419 fans showed up on Saturday night.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 5 July 2026
  • As Eric Suarez and Brandon Welty pulled their duo of airboats off to the side of an island in the Everglades, this spot looked no different from the rest of the canal.
    — Alie Skowronski, Miami Herald, 5 July 2026
Definition of no
Noun
  • In Orange County, its vector control district reported its first disease-carrying mosquitoes in Newport Beach on June 2.
    — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
  • The disease does not generally spread from person to person, but infections can occur if the bacteria get into a building's water supply, including in shower heads, sink faucets, hot water tanks, heaters, cooling towers and other plumbing systems.
    — Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 7 July 2026
Definition of disease

Phrases Containing ill

Browse Nearby Words

ilks
ill
ill-advised
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ill.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill. Accessed 13 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on ill

Nglish: Translation of ill for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All