| / English Dictionary |
ILL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
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)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Presaging ill fortune
Example:
a by-election at a time highly unpropitious for the Government
Synonyms:
ill; inauspicious; ominous
Classified under:
Similar:
unpropitious (not propitious)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Distressing
Example:
of ill repute
Classified under:
Similar:
bad (having undesirable or negative qualities)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Resulting in suffering or adversity
Example:
it's an ill wind that blows no good
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
harmful (causing or capable of causing harm)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Indicating hostility or enmity
Example:
ill will
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
hostile (characterized by enmity or ill will)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
Example:
ill from the monotony of his suffering
Synonyms:
ill; sick
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
funny (experiencing odd bodily sensations)
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)
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)
dizzy; giddy; vertiginous; woozy (having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling)
dyspeptic (suffering from dyspepsia)
faint; light; light-headed; lightheaded; swooning (weak and likely to lose consciousness)
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)
III. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
('ill' is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well
Example:
an ill-conceived plan
Synonyms:
badly; ill; poorly
Classified under:
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:
With difficulty or inconvenience; scarcely or hardly
Example:
we can ill afford to buy a new car just now
Classified under:
Sense 3
Meaning:
Unfavorably or with disapproval
Example:
thought badly of him for his lack of concern
Synonyms:
badly; ill
Classified under:
Adverbs
Antonym:
well (favorably; with approval)
Context examples:
Something that makes a condition worse.
(Aggravating factor, NCI Dictionary)
They found that the absence of C3 or CR3 made degeneration worse.
(Immune system can slow degenerative eye disease, National Institutes of Health)
A lot of people have naturally elevated TMAO levels, which are made worse by chronic red meat consumption.
(Study links frequent red meat consumption to high levels of chemical associated with heart disease, National Institutes of Health)
They were angry because of the ill treatment they had received and the unjust load.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
All females in the study were adults by time of the 2009 drought, but those born in lean times fared worse in 2009 than those born in times of plenty, the researchers found.
(Born during a drought: Bad news for baboons, NSF)
When two viruses infect a plant, they can interact with each other to cause much worse symptoms and greater losses of yield.
(Researchers model ways to control deadly maize disease, SciDev.Net)
Oh, I do hope he is not ill. He surely would have written.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Light pollution is actually worse than that, according to the German-led team of researchers.
(Study: Earth’s Night Skies Getting Brighter, VOA)
Stress doesn't cause acne, but stress can make it worse.
(Acne, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
Symptoms include: • Weight loss • Muscle weakness • Fatigue that gets worse over time • Low blood pressure • Patchy or dark skin
(Addison Disease, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
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