ill
- of unsound physical or mental health; unwell; sick: She felt ill, so her teacher sent her to the nurse.
- objectionable; unsatisfactory; poor; faulty: ill manners.
- hostile; unkindly: ill feeling.
- evil; wicked; bad: of ill repute.
- unfavorable; adverse: ill fortune.
- of inferior worth or ability; unskillful; inexpert: an ill example of scholarship.
- Slang. great; amazing: His mom is the illest cook.
- an unfavorable opinion or statement: I can speak no ill of her.
- harm or injury: His remarks did much ill.
- trouble, distress, or misfortune: Many ills befell him.
- evil: to know the difference between good and ill.
- sickness or disease.
- in an ill manner.
- unsatisfactorily; poorly: It ill befits a man to betray old friends.
- in a hostile or unfriendly manner.
- unfavorably; unfortunately.
- with displeasure or offense.
- faultily; improperly.
- with difficulty or inconvenience; scarcely: Buying a new car is an expense we can ill afford.
- ill at ease, socially uncomfortable; nervous: They were ill at ease because they didn't speak the language.
Origin of ill
Synonyms
See more synonyms for ill on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Antonyms
Grammar note
ill
- (usually postpositive) not in good health; sick
- characterized by or intending evil, harm, etc; hostileill deeds
- causing or resulting in pain, harm, adversity, etcill effects
- ascribing or imputing evil to something referred toill repute
- promising an unfavourable outcome; unpropitiousan ill omen
- harsh; lacking kindnessill will
- not up to an acceptable standard; faultyill manners
- ill at ease unable to relax; uncomfortable
- evil or harmto wish a person ill
- a mild disease
- misfortune; trouble
- badlythe title ill befits him
- with difficulty; hardlyhe can ill afford the money
- not rightlyshe ill deserves such good fortune
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for ill at ease
ill
adj.
c.1200, "morally evil" (other 13c. senses were "malevolent, hurtful, unfortunate, difficult"), from Old Norse illr "ill, bad," of unknown origin. Not related to evil. Main modern sense of "sick, unhealthy, unwell" is first recorded mid-15c., probably related to Old Norse idiom "it is bad to me." Slang inverted sense of "very good, cool" is 1980s. As a noun, "something evil," from mid-13c.
ill
v.
early 13c., "to do evil to," from ill (adj.). Meaing "to speak disparagingly" is from 1520s. Related: Illed; illing.
ill
adv.
c.1200, "wickedly; with hostility;" see ill (adj.). Meaning "not well, poorly" is from c.1300. It generally has not shifted to the realm of physical sickess, as the adjective has done. Ill-fated recorded from 1710; ill-informed from 1824; ill-tempered from c.1600; ill-starred from c.1600. Generally contrasted with well, hence the useful, but now obsolete or obscure illcome (1570s), illfare (c.1300), and illth.
ill
(ĭl)- Not healthy; sick.
- Not normal, as a condition; unsound.
- A disease or illness, especially of animals.
Idioms and Phrases with ill at ease
ill at ease
Uncomfortable, uneasy, as in Large parties made him feel ill at ease. [c. 1300] For an antonym, see at ease.
ill
In addition to the idioms beginning with ill
, also see under