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

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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

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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

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

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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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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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
Allen claimed that much of the breakdown was due to his former attorney, Alandis Brassel, becoming seriously ill while representing him. — Ashley Hume , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026 While the giant fungus has not been tested for toxins, some locals had even tasted it and reported no ill effects, said study coauthor Indunil Senanayake, an associate professor at the Kunming Institute of Botany in China. — Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2026
Adverb
In the third importation event, two state residents returned from South Carolina and fell ill on January 15 to 16. — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 27 Oct. 2026 Loneliness looms as a threat to all genders, but men, who are lauded for gruff stoicism and scorned for vulnerability, can be especially ill-equipped to navigate atomization. — Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Noun
In this framework, the cure for the party’s ills can only come from inside the party, not from any external force. — Andrew Mertha, Foreign Affairs, 17 Sep. 2026 But unlike Transcription or George Saunders’s Vigil, the year’s other novel about a rich old man on his way to the underworld, this book doesn’t try to diagnose our collective ills. — Emma Alpern, Vulture, 7 Sep. 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
  • Pediatric staff members bring Halloween, Christmas, Easter, New Year’s Eve and even the Tooth Fairy to hospitalized sick kids.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Documenting which children grew sickest and following an illness from house to house was a method aimed at articulating an explainable pattern.
    — Jim Downs, STAT, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of sick
Adjective
  • And users can report inaccurate, toxic or harmful content by clicking the thumbs down icon shown at the bottom of the response.
    — Robin Brewer, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Mark Zuckerberg spent years overriding the warnings and requests of his own investors to reduce or eliminate the harmful and addictive content leading to immense public harm.
    — Andrew Behar, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of harmful
Adjective
  • 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
  • This involves having a poorly or non-functioning colon and is not usually reversible.
    — Dr. John De Jong, Boston Herald, 17 Aug. 2025
Definition of poorly
Adjective
  • Disease that has spread to those organs is associated with poorer treatment outcomes.
    — Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
  • They were frustrated with teacher shortages and poor conditions at schools, including overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings.
    — James Cirrone , Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of poor
Adjective
  • The film fairly vibrates with ominous tension even in scenes in which seemingly nothing happens.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The horror movie takes place in Vision’s mind-mansion, which Butcherbird has filled with red light, dark shadows, and ominous imagery.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of ominous
Adverb
  • Fetal personhood would also likely eliminate, or at a minimum severely restrict, people who seek to start a family using surrogacy and in vitro fertilization.
    — Jim Defede, Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Torosian had told the prosecutor’s office that an undernourished, severely disabled girl who was receiving treatment at BioMed was subsisting entirely on spinach—on Kotthaus’s orders.
    — D. T. Max, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of severely
Adverb
  • Ghilarducci sees Watch Duty as no different in that regard from news channels or publications from which residents already were receiving constant updates.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Look no further than edge Chop Robinson, a recent addition to the defensive line room as of Hafley’s tenure, to further explain Sieler’s value to the team.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of no
Noun
  • The man fell into a coma and succumbed to the disease on October 9, 2026, after life support was withdrawn.
    — Sahas Mehra, Scientific American, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Amid the onset of Parkinson’s disease, Lincoln retired from the museum in 2014.
    — Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of disease

Phrases Containing ill

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ilks
ill
ill-advised
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Cite this Entry

“Ill.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ill. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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