ill

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Adjective 1.3.1 Usage notes 1.3.2 Synonyms 1.3.3 Antonyms 1.3.4 Derived terms 1.3.5 Translations 1.4 Adverb 1.4.1 Synonyms 1.4.2 Antonyms 1.4.3 Derived terms 1.4.4 Translations 1.5 Noun 1.5.1 Derived terms 1.5.2 Translations 1.6 References 1.7 Anagrams 2 Scots 2.1 Adjective 2.2 Adverb 2.3 Noun

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Middle English ille from Old Norse illr, īllr (“‘bad’”) (whence Danish ild (“‘evil’”)).

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪl/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -ɪl

[edit] Adjective

ill (comparative more ill, superlative most ill)

1. Suffering from a disease.

   I've been ill with the flu for the past few days.

2. Having an urge to vomit.

   Seeing those pictures made me ill.

3. Bad, often connoting abuse or neglect.

   He suffered from ill treatment.

4. (hip-hop slang) Sublime, with the connotation of being so in a singularly creative way. [This sense sometimes declines in AAVE as ill, comparative iller, superlative illest.]

   Biggie Smalls is the illest / Your style is played out, like Arnold wonderin "Whatchu talkin bout, Willis?" — Biggie Smalls, The What, 1994.

5. (slang) Extremely bad (bad enough to make one ill). Generally used indirectly with to be.

   That band was ill.

[edit] Usage notes

• The comparative forms iller and illest are used in American English, but less than one fourth as frequently as the "more" and "most" forms.

[edit] Synonyms

• (suffering from a disease): diseased, poorly (UK), sick, under the weather (informal), unwell
• (having an urge to vomit): disgusted, nauseated, nauseous, sick, sickened
• (bad): bad, mal-
• (in hip-hop slang: sublime): dope
• See also Wikisaurus:diseased

[edit] Antonyms

• (suffering from a disease): fine, hale, healthy, in good health, well
• (having an urge to vomit):
• (bad): good
• (in hip-hop slang: sublime): wack

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] Adverb

ill (comparative more ill, superlative most ill)

1. Badly; very incompletely. Often hyphenated to form an adjectival phrase.

   That move was ill-planned and ill-executed.

2. Scarcely.
   • 2006, Julia Borossa (translator), Monique Canto-Sperber (quoted author), in Libération, 2002 February 2, quoted in Élisabeth Badinter (quoting author), Dead End Feminism, Polity, ISBN 9780745633800, page 40:

     Is it because this supposes an undifferentiated violence towards others and oneself that I could ill imagine in a woman?

[edit] Synonyms

• illy

[edit] Antonyms

• well

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

ill (plural ills)

1. (often pluralized) Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.

   Music won't solve all the world's ills, but it can make them easier to bear.

2. Harm or injury.

   I wouldn't want you to do me ill.

3. Evil; moral wrongfulness.

   Sociopaths do not seem to grasp the difference between good and ill.

4. A physical ailment; an illness.

   I am incapacitated by rheumatism and other ills.

5. Unfavorable remarks or opinions.

   Do not speak ill of the dead.

6. (US, slang) PCP.

[edit] Derived terms

• for good or ill

[edit] Translations

[edit] References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.

[edit] Anagrams

• Alphagram: ill
• Lil, li'l

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[edit] Scots

[edit] Adjective

ill (comparative waur, superlative warst)

1. ill
2. bad, evil, wicked
3. harsh, severe
4. profane
5. difficult, troublesome
6. awkward, unskilled

[edit] Adverb

ill (comparative waur, superlative warst)

1. ill
2. badly, evilly, wickedly
3. harshly, severely
4. profanely
5. with difficulty
6. awkwardly, inexpertly

[edit] Noun

ill (plural ills)

1. ill
2. ill will, malice