Synonyms of ills

ills

noun

plural of ill

1

as in diseases

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

• diseases
• ailments
• illnesses
• sicknesses
• fevers
• conditions
• disorders
• ails
• maladies
• infections
• infirmities
• bugs
• attacks
• complications
• distempers
• troubles
• plagues
• complaints
• affections
• distemperatures
• weaknesses
• contagious diseases
• contagions
• malaises
• debilities
• bouts
• epidemics
• spells
• matters
• contagia
• decrepitudes
• pests
• fits
• pestilences
• pips

2

as in evils

that which is morally unacceptable

idealistic people who try to cure all of our society's ills

Synonyms & Similar Words

• evils
• wrongs
• bad
• sins
• iniquities
• immoralities
• villainies
• atrocities
• enormities
• corruptions
• depravities
• indecencies
• debaucheries
• rot
• cankers
• perversions
• cancers
• decays
• degeneracies
• abominations
• malefactions
• squalors
• devilries
• satanisms
• diabolisms
• taboos
• scurrilities
• anathemas

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• virtues
• rights
• moralities
• goods
• decencies
• honesties
• integrities
• rectitudes
• probities

3

as in misfortunes

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

• misfortunes
• tragedies
• hardships
• troubles
• miseries
• adversities
• mishaps
• disasters
• misadventures
• accidents
• calamities
• sorrows
• catastrophes
• trials
• woes
• evils
• mischances
• circumstances
• sufferings
• fates
• knocks
• disappointments
• tribulations
• distresses
• afflictions
• failures
• curses
• blows
• dooms
• defeats
• casualties
• cataclysms
• destinies
• setbacks
• portions
• letdowns
• nonsuccesses
• body blows
• fizzles
• lots

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fortunes
• opportunities
• luck
• chances
• strokes
• successes
• hits
• serendipities
• achievements
• strikes
• accomplishments
• breaks
• flukes
• windfalls
• godsends

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of ills

His final essay collection asks many provocative questions about industrialism and apathy, but (perhaps wisely) offers no solutions to the world’s ills. — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026

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

Football cannot be expected to answer societal ills, but this is the sort of area in which the club’s foundation does its invaluable outreach work, a place touched by those statistics about deprivation and crime. — Michael Walker, New York Times, 15 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

The colonial latifundium, instead of being abolished by independence, was strengthened, leading to any number of national ills. — Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026

Blaming billionaire wealth-hoarding for America’s ills would poll very well among the nation’s anthropology departments. — Gilad Edelman, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026

Last month, Kwon’s team, in collaboration with Seongju Kim at Hanbat National University, in Daejeon, South Korea, presented its solution to HBM’s future ills. — IEEE Spectrum, 8 July 2026

Hualde says that some Pamplona residents rue his early promotion of the festival due to the ills of overtourism the sleepy provincial city is now experiencing. — ABC News, 6 July 2026