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Ill   /ɪl/   Listen
adjective
Ill  adj.  (compar. iller; superl. illest)  
1.
Contrary to good, in a physical sense; contrary or opposed to advantage, happiness, etc.; bad; evil; unfortunate; disagreeable; unfavorable. "Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill markets, and ill neighbors." "There 's some ill planet reigns."
2.
Contrary to good, in a moral sense; evil; wicked; wrong; iniquitious; naughtly; bad; improper. "Of his own body he was ill, and gave The clergy ill example."
3.
Sick; indisposed; unwell; diseased; disordered; as, ill of a fever. "I am in health, I breathe, and see thee ill."
4.
Not according with rule, fitness, or propriety; incorrect; rude; unpolished; inelegant. "That 's an ill phrase."
Ill at ease, uneasy; uncomfortable; anxious. "I am very ill at ease."
Ill blood, enmity; resentment; bad blood.
Ill breeding, lack of good breeding; rudeness.
Ill fame, ill or bad repute; as, a house of ill fame, a house where lewd persons meet for illicit intercourse.
Ill humor, a disagreeable mood; bad temper.
Ill nature, bad disposition or temperament; sullenness; esp., a disposition to cause unhappiness to others.
Ill temper, anger; moroseness; crossness.
Ill turn.
(a)
An unkind act.
(b)
A slight attack of illness. (Colloq. U.S.) Ill will, unkindness; enmity; malevolence.
Synonyms: Bad; evil; wrong; wicked; sick; unwell.



adverb
Ill  adv.  In a ill manner; badly; weakly. "How ill this taper burns!" "Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates and men decay." Note: Ill, like above, well, and so, is used before many participal adjectives, in its usual adverbal sense. When the two words are used as an epithet preceding the noun qualified they are commonly hyphened; in other cases they are written separatively; as, an ill-educated man; he was ill educated; an ill-formed plan; the plan, however ill formed, was acceptable. Ao, also, the following: ill-affected or ill affected, ill-arranged or ill arranged, ill-assorted or ill assorted, ill-boding or ill boding, ill-bred or ill bred, ill-conditioned, ill-conducted, ill-considered, ill-devised, ill-disposed, ill-doing, ill-fairing, ill-fated, ill-favored, ill-featured, ill-formed, ill-gotten, ill-imagined, ill-judged, ill-looking, ill-mannered, ill-matched, ill-meaning, ill-minded, ill-natured, ill-omened, ill-proportioned, ill-provided, ill-required, ill-sorted, ill-starred, ill-tempered, ill-timed, ill-trained, ill-used, and the like.



noun
Ill  n.  
1.
Whatever annoys or impairs happiness, or prevents success; evil of any kind; misfortune; calamity; disease; pain; as, the ills of humanity. "Who can all sense of others' ills escape Is but a brute at best in human shape." "That makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of."
2.
Whatever is contrary to good, in a moral sense; wickedness; depravity; iniquity; wrong; evil. "Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still, Exerts itself, and then throws off the ill."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Ill" Quotes from Famous Books



... vpon Grisland, hauing repayred his fleet, and perceiuing himself Northerly neere vnto the Islands, determined, to set vpon Island, which together with the rest, was subiect to the king of Norway: but he found the countrey so well fortified and defended, that his fleete being so small, and very ill appointed both of weapons and men, he was glad to retire. And so he left that enterprise without performing any thing at all: and in the chanels, he assaulted the other Isles called Islande, which are seuen, Talas, Broas, Iscant, ...
— The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation, Vol. XII., America, Part I. • Richard Hakluyt

... down into trenches in the firing-line are, if anything, less heroic than the army of cooks and Janies who descend to spend their lives in the basement "domestic offices" of Bloomsbury. Dark and ill-ventilated in summer, gas-lit and airless throughout the foggy winter. Flight upon flight of stairs up which Janie daily toiled a hundred times before she was suffered to seek the attic she shared with cook under the slates. Overwork, lack of fresh air and recreation—all ...
— A Tall Ship - On Other Naval Occasions • Sir Lewis Anselm da Costa Ritchie

... part, and then laid it down, as being apparently of no importance. The other, however, seemed to have a great effect upon her, as she exclaimed, hurriedly, "Tell Reuben not to unharness the horses—I must go to Francisville immediately—dear Mrs. Hinton is very ill, and not expected to recover. You must take good care of Charlie until I return. If I do not come back to-night, you will know that she is worse, and that I am compelled to remain there;" and, on the carriage being brought ...
— The Garies and Their Friends • Frank J. Webb

... cheer when the awards for valor were duly made by Cappy and congratulatory speeches made by Mr. Skinner and Matt Peasley. It was such a gala occasion that Cappy drank three cocktails, battened down by a glass or two of champagne, and as a result was ill for two days thereafter. When he recovered, he announced sadly and solemnly that he was about to retire—forever; that nothing of a business nature should ever be permitted to drag him back into the harness again. Then he bade all of his employees a touching farewell, packed his golf ...
— Cappy Ricks Retires • Peter B. Kyne

... of the room Holden stepped on a naked dagger, that was laid there to avert ill-luck, and it broke at the ...
— Life's Handicap • Rudyard Kipling


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