ILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ill mean? 

• ILL (noun)
  The noun ILL has 1 sense:

1. an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining

  Familiarity information: ILL used as a noun is very rare.

• ILL (adjective)
  The adjective ILL has 5 senses:

1. affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function

2. resulting in suffering or adversity

3. distressing

4. indicating hostility or enmity

5. presaging ill fortune

  Familiarity information: ILL used as an adjective is common.

• ILL (adverb)
  The adverb ILL has 3 senses:

1. ('ill' is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well

2. unfavorably or with disapproval

3. with difficulty or inconvenience; scarcely or hardly

  Familiarity information: ILL used as an adverb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

ailment; complaint; ill

Hypernyms ("ill" is a kind of...):

disorder; upset (a physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ill"):

pip (a minor nonspecific ailment)

kinetosis; motion sickness (the state of being dizzy or nauseated because of the motions that occur while traveling in or on a moving vehicle)

• ILL (adjective)

Comparative: iller    / worse   
Superlative: illest    / worst   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function

Synonyms:

ill; sick

Context example:

ill from the monotony of his suffering

Similar:

funny (experiencing odd bodily sensations)

dizzy; giddy; vertiginous; woozy (having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling)

gouty (suffering from gout)

green (looking pale and unhealthy)

laid low; stricken (put out of action (by illness))

laid up (ill and usually confined)

milk-sick (affected with or related to milk sickness)

nauseated; nauseous; queasy; sick; sickish (feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit)

palsied (affected with palsy or uncontrollable tremor)

paralytic; paralyzed (affected with paralysis)

paraplegic (suffering complete paralysis of the lower half of the body usually resulting from damage to the spinal cord)

rachitic; rickety (affected with, suffering from, or characteristic of rickets)

scrofulous (afflicted with scrofula)

sneezy (inclined to sneeze)

spastic (suffering from spastic paralysis)

tubercular; tuberculous (constituting or afflicted with or caused by tuberculosis or the tubercle bacillus)

unhealed (not healed)

upset (mildly physically distressed)

faint; light; light-headed; lightheaded; swooning (weak and likely to lose consciousness)

afflicted; stricken (grievously affected especially by disease)

aguish (affected by ague)

ailing; indisposed; peaked; poorly; seedy; sickly; under the weather; unwell (somewhat ill or prone to illness)

air sick; airsick; carsick; seasick (experiencing motion sickness)

autistic (characteristic of or affected with autism)

bedfast; bedrid; bedridden; sick-abed (confined to bed (by illness))

bilious; liverish; livery (suffering from or suggesting a liver disorder or gastric distress)

bronchitic (suffering from or prone to bronchitis)

consumptive (afflicted with or associated with pulmonary tuberculosis)

convalescent; recovering (returning to health after illness or debility)

delirious; hallucinating (experiencing delirium)

diabetic (suffering from diabetes)

dyspeptic (suffering from dyspepsia)

feverish; feverous (having or affected by a fever)

Also:

unhealthy (not in or exhibiting good health in body or mind)

unfit (not in good physical or mental condition; out of condition)

Antonym:

well (in good health especially after having suffered illness or injury)

Derivation:

illness (impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Resulting in suffering or adversity

Context example:

it's an ill wind that blows no good

Similar:

harmful (causing or capable of causing harm)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Distressing

Context example:

of ill repute

Similar:

bad (having undesirable or negative qualities)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Indicating hostility or enmity

Context example:

ill will

Similar:

hostile (characterized by enmity or ill will)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Presaging ill fortune

Synonyms:

ill; inauspicious; ominous

Context example:

a by-election at a time highly unpropitious for the Government

Similar:

unpropitious (not propitious)

• ILL (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

('ill' is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well

Synonyms:

badly; ill; poorly

Context example:

an ill-conceived plan

Domain usage:

combining form (a bound form used only in compounds)

Antonym:

well ((often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard ('good' is a nonstandard dialectal variant for 'well'))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Unfavorably or with disapproval

Synonyms:

badly; ill

Context example:

thought badly of him for his lack of concern

Antonym:

well (favorably; with approval)

Sense 3

Meaning:

With difficulty or inconvenience; scarcely or hardly

Context example:

we can ill afford to buy a new car just now

 Context examples 

We began badly, and went on worse.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

However, staying in bed for more than 1 or 2 days can make it worse.

(Back Pain, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

It is usually sudden and gets worse over time.

(Appendicitis, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

Those having symptoms receive the designation "B" and have a worse prognosis.

(Ann Arbor Lymphoma Staging System, NCI Thesaurus)

But for millions of people in the United States, the anxiety does not go away, and gets worse over time.

(Anxiety, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

But infectious bacteria can make you ill.

(Bacterial Infections, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Club and whip were both used upon him, and he experienced the worst beating he had ever received in his life.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Some stay the same or get worse as you get older.

(Birthmarks, NIH)

Symptoms appear suddenly and are at their worst about 48 hours after they start.

(Bell's Palsy, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

However, some drugs may help keep symptoms from getting worse for a limited time.

(Alzheimer's Disease, NIH: National Institute on Aging)