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Ill.

abbr.

Illinois

ill.

abbr.

1. illustrated

2. illustration

3. illustrator

ill

(ĭl)

adj. worse (wûrs), worst (wûrst)

1. Not healthy; sick: I began to feel ill last week.

2. Not normal; unsound: an ill condition of body and mind.

3. Resulting in suffering; harmful or distressing: the ill effects of a misconceived policy.

a. Resulting from or suggestive of evil intentions: ill deeds committed out of spite.

b. Ascribing an objectionable quality: holds an ill view of that political group.

c. Hostile or unfriendly: ill feeling between rivals.

d. Harmful; pernicious: the ill effects of a misconceived policy.

5. Not favorable; unpropitious: ill predictions.

6. Not measuring up to recognized standards of excellence, as of behavior or conduct: ill manners.

7. Slang Excellent; outstanding: Your new car is really ill!

adv. worse, worst

1. In a bad, inadequate, or improper way. Often used in combination: My words were ill-chosen.

2. In an unfavorable way; unpropitiously: a statistic that bodes ill for job growth.

3. Scarcely or with difficulty: We can ill afford another mistake.

1. Evil, wrongdoing, or harm: the ill that befell the townspeople.

2. Something that causes suffering; trouble: the social ills of urban life.

3. Something that reflects in an unfavorable way on one: Please don't speak ill of me when I'm gone.

4. (used with a pl. verb) Sick people considered as a group. Often used with the.

Idiom:

ill at ease

Anxious or unsure; uneasy: The stranger made me feel ill at ease.

[Middle English, from Old Norse īllr, bad.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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