Ill — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective adverb noun abbreviation /ˈil/

Meaning & Definition of Ill

Ill (adjective)

  1. not in good health; also, nauseated
  2. not normal or sound
  3. causing suffering or distress

Ill (adverb)

  1. in a faulty, inefficient, insufficient, or unpleasant manner —often used in combination
  2. in an unfortunate manner, badly, unluckily
  3. hardly, scarcely

Ill (noun)

  1. misfortune, distress
  2. ailment, sickness
  3. something that disturbs or afflicts, trouble

Ill (abbreviation)

  1. illustrated; illustration; illustrator
  2. Illinois

Ill (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. affected with nausea

    "she grew ill from the constant rocking motion of the boat"

    similar: nauseated, nauseous, qualmish, queasy, queer, queerish, sick, sickish, squeamish
    related: green, peaked, peaky, sickly, unsettled, upset, woozy
    near: settled, healthy, well

  2. 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"

    similar: adverse, bad, baleful, baneful, damaging, dangerous, deleterious, detrimental, evil, harmful, hurtful, injurious, mischievous, nocuous, noxious, pernicious, prejudicial, wicked
    related: hostile, inimical, unfriendly, contagious, deadly, infectious, infective, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential, poisonous, venomous, insidious, menacing, ominous, sinister, threatening, hazardous, imperiling, jeopardizing, parlous, perilous, risky, unsafe, unsound, nasty, noisome, unhealthful, unhealthy, unwholesome, destructive, fatal, killer, lethal, malignant, ruinous
    opposite: anodyne, benign, harmless, hurtless, innocent, innocuous, inoffensive, safe
    near: advantageous, beneficial, useful, favorable, good, propitious, curative, healthful, healthy, helpful, palliative, remedial, salubrious, salutary, wholesome, secure, sound, benignant, noncorrosive, nondestructive, nonfatal, noninfectious, nonlethal, nonpoisonous, nonpolluting, nontoxic, nonvenomous

  3. temporarily suffering from a disorder of the body

    "since I'm ill, I guess that I'll just have to miss that dental appointment"

    similar: ailing, bad, down, indisposed, peaked, peaky, poorly, punk, run-down, sick, sickened, unhealthy, unsound, unwell, out of sorts, under the weather
    related: symptomatic, cruddy, lousy, seedy, sickish, nauseated, nauseous, qualmish, queasy, squeamish, airsick, carsick, seasick, dizzy, light-headed, shaky, woozy, achy, feverish, diseased, disordered, decrepit, feeble, fragile, frail, infirm, invalid, sickly, weak, weakly, afflicted, troubled, debilitated, disabled, incapacitated, hypochondriac, hypochondriacal
    opposite: hale, healthful, healthy, sound, well, whole, wholesome
    near: able-bodied, conditioned, fit, well-conditioned, cured, better, convalescing, improved, mending, recovering, recuperating, rehabilitated, hardy, hearty, lusty, robust, rugged, stalwart, strong, tough, blooming, bouncing, chipper, flourishing, flush, thriving

  4. falling short of a standard

    "such ill behavior will not be tolerated"

    similar: bad, bastard, bush, bush-league, crummy, deficient, dissatisfactory, inferior, lame, lousy, off, paltry, poor, punk, sour, suboptimal, subpar, substandard, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wack (slang), wanting, wretched, wrong, below par, from hunger
    related: abysmal, atrocious, awful, bitchin' (slang), brutal, damnable, deplorable, detestable, disastrous, dreadful, execrable, gnarly (slang), horrendous, horrible, pathetic, stinky, sucky (slang), terrible, unspeakable, defective, faulty, flawed, egregious, flagrant, gross, bum, cheesy, coarse, common, crappy (slang), cut-rate, junky, lesser, low-grade, low-rent, mediocre, miserable, reprehensible, rotten, rubbishy, second-rate, shoddy, sleazy, trashy, abominable, odious, vile, useless, valueless, worthless, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, meager, mean, miserly, scanty, shabby, short, skimp, skimpy, spare, stingy, miscreant, scurrilous, villainous, counterfeit, fake, phony, sham
    opposite: acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK, passable, respectable, satisfactory, standard, tolerable
    near: classic, classical, A1, bang-up, banner, boss (slang), capital, choice, crackerjack, dandy, divine, excellent, fabulous, first-class, first-rate, grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-test, jim-dandy, keen, marvelous, mean, neat, nifty, noble, par excellence, perfect, premium, prime, sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, unsurpassed, wonderful, better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, special, sufficient, average, borderline, fair, mediocre, middling, minimal, so-so, unexceptional, suitable, useful, worthy, gratifying, satisfying

  5. 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"

    similar: baleful, dire, direful, doomy, foreboding, ill-boding, inauspicious, menacing, minatory, ominous, portentous, sinister, threatening
    related: black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dim, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich (chiefly Scottish), elegiac, forlorn, funereal, gloomy, glum, godforsaken, gray, lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, somber, sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched, discouraging, disheartening, hopeless, unfavorable, unpromising, unpropitious, ill-fated, ill-starred, star-crossed, troubled, unfortunate, unlucky, evil, malign, malignant
    opposite: unthreatening
    near: auspicious, benign, bright, encouraging, favorable, golden, heartening, hopeful, promising, propitious, prosperous

Ill (adverb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. 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"

    similar: brutally, hard, hardly, harshly, oppressively, roughly, severely, sternly, stiffly
    related: callously, cold-bloodedly, hard-heartedly, heartlessly, inhumanely, inhumanly, insensately, insensitively, mercilessly, obdurately, pitilessly, ruthlessly, tyrannically, uncharitably, unfeelingly, unmercifully, unsparingly, abusively, brutishly, savagely, viciously, aggressively, assertively, decidedly, determinedly, firmly, grimly, gruffly, resolutely, strongly, toughly
    opposite: clemently, gently, leniently, lightly, mildly, softly
    near: benevolently, benignantly, considerately, cordially, graciously, kindly, lovingly, tenderly, charitably, compassionately, humanely, mercifully, softheartedly, sympathetically, tolerantly, understandingly

  2. certainly not

    "you can ill afford to miss another day of work"

    similar: hardly, no, none, noway, scarcely, by no means, nothing doing, on no account
    related: near, never, nothing, nowhere, nowise
    opposite: absolutely, certainly, completely, definitely, positively, surely
    near: awful, awfully, enormously, exceedingly, extremely, greatly, highly, hugely, immensely, mightily, mighty, most, quite, terribly, very, assuredly, clearly, hands down, perfectly, plainly, really, truly, unequivocally, unquestionably, utterly, doubtless, more or less, mostly, rather, slightly, somewhat

Ill (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. 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"

    similar: affection, ail, ailment, bug, complaint, complication, condition, disease, disorder, distemper, distemperature, fever, illness, infirmity, malady, sickness, trouble
    related: contagion, contagious disease, contagium, infection, attack, bout, fit, spell, debility, decrepitude, feebleness, frailness, lameness, sickliness, unhealthiness, unsoundness, unwellness, weakness, malaise, matter, pip, epidemic, pest, pestilence, plague
    opposite: health, wellness
    near: fitness, healthiness, heartiness, robustness, soundness, wholeness, wholesomeness, fettle, shape

  2. that which is morally unacceptable

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

    similar: bad, evil, evildoing, immorality, iniquity, sin, villainy, wrong
    related: atrociousness, atrocity, badness, balefulness, darkness, depravedness, devilishness, diabolism, enormity, evilness, heinousness, iniquitousness, satanism, sinfulness, vileness, wickedness, devilry, fiendishness, cancer, canker, decay, rot, squalor, corruption, debauchery, degeneracy, depravity, indecency, malefaction, perversion, pervertedness, scurrility, scurrilousness, abomination, anathema, taboo
    opposite: good, morality, right, virtue
    near: decency, goodness, honesty, integrity, probity, rectitude, uprightness, righteousness, virtuousness

  3. bad luck or an example of this

    "the travelers merrily set off on their journey, scarcely imagining the ills that would befall them"

    similar: adversity, knock, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mishap, tragedy
    related: calamity, cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster, affliction, hardship, trial, tribulation, woe, distress, misery, suffering, unhappiness, defeat, failure, fizzle, nonsuccess, curse, evil, sorrow, trouble, accident, casualty, blow, body blow, disappointment, letdown, setback, circumstance, destiny, doom, fate, lot, portion
    opposite: fortune, luck, serendipity
    near: break, chance, fluke, godsend, hit, opportunity, strike, stroke, windfall, accomplishment, achievement, success

Related Entry: Ill-advised (adjective)

Ill-advised is a different word from Ill. The synonyms below are for ill-advised, not for ill.

  1. showing poor judgment especially in personal relationships or social situations

    "an ill-advised criticism of the boss at a company function"

    similar: brash, graceless, imprudent, inadvisable, indelicate, indiscreet, injudicious, tactless, undiplomatic, unwise
    related: dumb, idiotic, moronic, stupid, careless, heedless, inconsiderate, mindless, thoughtless, ill-mannered, improper, inappropriate, indecorous, unbecoming, uncivil, unseemly, foolish, harebrained, nonsensical, preposterous, senseless, silly
    opposite: advisable, discreet, judicious, prudent, tactful, wise
    near: intelligent, logical, rational, sensible, smart, sound, appropriate, becoming, civil, decorous, proper, seemly, sage, sane, sapient

Related Entry: Ill at ease (adjective)

Ill at ease is a different word from Ill. The synonyms below are for ill at ease, not for ill.

  1. feeling or showing uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty

    "I'm usually ill at ease when addressing a large crowd of people"

    similar: aflutter, antsy, anxious, atwitter, dithery, edgy, goosey, het up, hinky (slang), hung up, insecure, jittery, jumpy, nervous, nervy, perturbed, queasy, tense, troubled, uneasy, unquiet, upset, uptight, worried, keyed up, on edge, on pins and needles, on tenterhooks
    related: aggrieved, bothered, concerned, disquieted, distraught, distressed, disturbed, freaked, freaked-out, shook-up, apprehensive, foreboding, hesitant, misgiving, fretful, fretting, stewing, vexed, qualmish, qualmy, flustered, twittered, undone, unnerved, unstrung, obsessed, preoccupied, restless, fidgety, flighty, fluttery, high-strung, hypertense, skittish, spooky
    opposite: calm, collected, cool, easy, happy-go-lucky, nerveless, relaxed
    near: confident, self-assured, self-confident, sure, controlled, self-controlled

Related Entry: Ill-boding (adjective)

Ill-boding is a different word from Ill. The synonyms below are for ill-boding, not for ill.

  1. being or showing a sign of evil or calamity to come

    "in an ill-boding turn of events, the government began rounding up political dissidents"

    similar: baleful, dire, direful, doomy, foreboding, ill, inauspicious, menacing, minatory, ominous, portentous, sinister, threatening
    related: black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dim, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dreich (chiefly Scottish), elegiac, forlorn, funereal, gloomy, glum, godforsaken, gray, lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, somber, sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched, discouraging, disheartening, hopeless, unfavorable, unpromising, unpropitious, ill-fated, ill-starred, star-crossed, troubled, unfortunate, unlucky, evil, malign, malignant
    opposite: unthreatening
    near: auspicious, benign, bright, encouraging, favorable, golden, heartening, hopeful, promising, propitious, prosperous

Related Entry: Ill-bred (adjective)

Ill-bred is a different word from Ill. The synonyms below are for ill-bred, not for ill.

  1. lacking in refinement or good taste

    "the ill-bred habit of chewing with the mouth open"

    similar: coarse, common, crass, crude, gross, illiberal (archaic), incult, insensible, low, lowbred, lowbrow, raffish, rough, rough-hewn, roughneck, rude, rugged, tasteless, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, unpolished, unrefined, vulgar
    related: boorish, churlish, cloddish, clownish, loutish, ungentlemanly, clumsy, lubberly, lumpish, oafish, inconsiderate, indelicate, insensitive, thoughtless, countrified, provincial, rustic, unsophisticated, graceless, inelegant, tacky, animallike, barbaric, barbarous, uncivilized, mannerless, unmannered, unmannerly
    opposite: civilized, cultivated, cultured, genteel, polished, refined, smooth, tasteful, ultrarefined, well-bred
    near: aristocratic, courtly, patrician, elegant, graceful, restrained, considerate, gracious, sensitive, thoughtful, citified, sophisticated, urbane

  2. showing a lack of manners or consideration for others

    "only an ill-bred, conceited person would demand that everyone cater to their whims"

    similar: discourteous, disrespectful, ill-mannered, impertinent, impolite, inconsiderate, rude, thoughtless, uncalled-for, uncivil, ungracious, unhandsome, unmannered, unmannerly
    related: arch, audacious, bold, bold-faced, brash, brassy, brazen, cheeky, fresh, impudent, insolent, lippy, sassy, saucy, shameless, boorish, caddish, churlish, clownish, loutish, uncouth, vulgar, abrupt, blunt, brusque, crusty, curt, gruff, sharp, snippety, snippy, antisocial, crabbed, cross, disagreeable, grumpy, sullen, surly, improper, incorrect, indecent, indecorous, unseemly, arrogant, bumptious, conceited, haughty, high-handed, imperious, peremptory, pompous, presumptuous, pretentious, supercilious, superior
    opposite: civil, considerate, courteous, genteel, gracious, mannerly, polite, thoughtful, well-bred
    near: humble, meek, modest, unassertive, deferential, dutiful, respectful, submissive, yielding, acceptable, appropriate, becoming, befitting, correct, decent, decorous, fit, fitting, good, meet, proper, respectable, right, seemly, suitable, affable, cordial, friendly, genial, hospitable, sociable, felicitous, graceful, chivalrous, courtly, gallant, ceremonious, elegant, refined

Related Entry: Ill-fated (adjective)

Ill-fated is a different word from Ill. The synonyms below are for ill-fated, not for ill.

  1. having, prone to, or marked by bad luck

    "the ill-fated trip ended in disaster for all"

    similar: hapless, hard-luck, ill-starred, jinxed, luckless, snakebit, star-crossed, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky
    related: adverse, ill, inauspicious, unfavorable, unpromising, untoward, calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous, accursed, damned, doomed, tragic
    opposite: fortunate, happy, lucky
    near: blessed, favored, gifted, privileged, auspicious, fair, favorable, golden, promising, propitious

Related Entry: Ill-favored (adjective)

Ill-favored is a different word from Ill. The synonyms below are for ill-favored, not for ill.

  1. unpleasant to look at

    "an ill-favored and yapping little dog that reminded people a lot of its owner"

    similar: grotesque, hideous, homely, monstrous, ugly, unappealing, unattractive, unbeautiful, uncomely, unhandsome, unlovely, unpleasing, unpretty, unsightly, vile
    related: abhorrent, abominable, appalling, awful, disgusting, distasteful, dreadful, gross, horrible, horrid, loathsome, nauseating, nauseous, noisome, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, sickening, frumpish, frumpy, plain, unaesthetic, unbecoming, unshapely
    opposite: aesthetic, attractive, beauteous, beautiful, bonny (chiefly British), comely, cute, drop-dead, fair, fetching, good-looking, goodly, gorgeous, handsome, knockout, lovely, pretty, ravishing, seemly, sightly, stunning, taking, well-favored
    near: shapely, imposing, impressive, prepossessing

Related Entry: Ill-humored (adjective)

Ill-humored is a different word from Ill. The synonyms below are for ill-humored, not for ill.

  1. having or showing a habitually bad temper

    "an ill-humored person should probably not take a job that requires dealing with the public"

    similar: acid, bearish, bilious, bloody-minded (chiefly British), cantankerous, disagreeable, dyspeptic, ill-natured, ill-tempered, ornery, splenetic, surly
    related: choleric, crabby, cranky, crotchety, fussy, grouchy, grumpy, querulous, irascible, irritable, peevish, peppery, petulant, quick-tempered, short-tempered, snappish, snippy, testy, touchy, argumentative, contentious, contrary, cussed, angry, exasperated, indignant, irate, mad, upset, uptight, depressed, dour, glum, morose, sullen, anal, old-maidish, schoolmarmish
    opposite: amiable, good-humored, good-natured, good-tempered
    near: agreeable, amicable, congenial, friendly, pleasant, benign, gentle, kind, nice, sweet, bubbly, cheerful, cheery, effervescent, exuberant, high-spirited, joyful, lighthearted, lively, vivacious, content, glad, happy, calm, placid, serene, long-suffering, patient, tolerant

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Ill

The most common words with a similar meaning to Ill:

Slang: wack
nauseated, nauseous, qualmish, queasy, queer, queerish, sick, sickish, squeamish, adverse, bad, baleful, baneful, damaging, dangerous, deleterious, detrimental, evil, harmful, hurtful, injurious, mischievous, nocuous, noxious, pernicious, prejudicial, wicked, ailing, down, indisposed, peaked, peaky, poorly, punk, run-down, sickened, unhealthy, unsound, unwell, bastard

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Ill

Words with the opposite meaning of Ill:

anodyne, benign, harmless, hurtless, innocent, innocuous, inoffensive, safe, hale, healthful, healthy, sound, well, whole, wholesome, acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK, passable, respectable, satisfactory, standard, tolerable, unthreatening, clemently, gently, leniently

Related Words for Ill

green, sickly, unsettled, upset, woozy, hostile, inimical, unfriendly, contagious, deadly, infectious, infective, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential, poisonous, venomous, insidious, hazardous, imperiling, jeopardizing, parlous, perilous, risky, unsafe, nasty, noisome, unhealthful, unwholesome, destructive

Near Antonyms of Ill

settled, advantageous, beneficial, useful, favorable, propitious, curative, helpful, palliative, remedial, salubrious, salutary, secure, benignant, noncorrosive, nondestructive, nonfatal, noninfectious, nonlethal, nonpoisonous, nonpolluting, nontoxic, nonvenomous, able-bodied, conditioned, fit, well-conditioned, cured, better, convalescing

Word Forms of Ill

Inflections: worse, worst

Origin & Etymology of Ill

Middle English, from Old Norse illr

First known use: 12th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Ill

  • Topics: Body & Health

Frequently Asked Questions about Ill

What does "Ill" mean?

"Ill" means not in good health; also, nauseated. As an an adjective, an adverb, a noun and an abbreviation, it is defined as: not in good health; also, nauseated. It has 10 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Ill"?

Other words for "Ill" include nauseated, nauseous, qualmish, queasy, queer, queerish, sick and sickish. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Ill" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Ill"?

There are 436 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Ill". Common alternatives include nauseated, nauseous, qualmish, queasy, queer, queerish, sick, sickish, squeamish and adverse.

What is the opposite of "Ill"?

Antonyms of "Ill" include anodyne, benign, harmless, hurtless, innocent, innocuous, inoffensive and safe. Near antonyms include settled, advantageous, beneficial and useful.

How do you use "Ill" in a sentence?

Examples of "Ill" in a sentence: "she grew ill from the constant rocking motion of the boat"; "one of the ill effects of winter weather is the rapid spread of germs as people spend more time together indoors"; "since I'm ill, I guess that I'll just have to miss that dental appointment".

Is "Ill" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Ill" can be used as an adjective, an adverb, a noun and an abbreviation, depending on the context.

How do you pronounce "Ill"?

"Ill" is pronounced /ˈil/.

What is the origin of the word "Ill"?

"Ill" comes from Middle English, from Old Norse illr. First known use: 12th century.