ill
Usage
What are other ways to say ill?
The adjective ill is more mild than evil or wicked, and it appears mainly in certain fixed expressions: ill will; ill-natured. Evil applies to that which violates or leads to the violation of moral law: evil practices. Wicked implies willful and determined doing of what is very wrong: a wicked plan. Bad is the broadest and simplest term: a bad man; bad habits.Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Early reports suggested that she fell ill after breaking a test tube.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
But Europe can ill afford to anger China in case it throttles supplies of rare earth minerals that are vital for the continent's industrial sector.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Teachers don’t enter the field of education to slide by with an easy job or to underperform out of laziness or ill will.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
There are also obvious risks if he dies prematurely, becomes ill or divorces.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
They were pouring out the door now, leaning on the arms of nurses and hospital helpers, the old, the ill.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Time, perhaps, to question whether he's got the answers to the myriad ills of his team.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
To remedy these ills, the court needs top-to-bottom reform.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
An experience completely ignorant to the ills of modern football, to politics, ticket prices or hydration breaks.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
The Swiss are largely well-governed, and the country’s appeal is understandable to people who want to escape the tax rates and other ills that are common elsewhere in Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Dick was sick of him— his harmonica, his aches and ills, his superstitions, the weepy, womanly eyes, the nagging, whispering voice.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
"If you have a generally iller population, that's not good for the residents, it's not good for productivity, it's not good for the economy.'"
From BBC ● May 25, 2023
This gave him an unnatural appearance and made him look iller than ever.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 30, 2019
He got iller and iller and iller, and of course he died in the beginning of 2015 when some of the other things had started appearing in the press.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2016
Last year began with my being ill, kept on with my being iller, then I was unwell, followed by being poorly with a tiny interlude of infirmity.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2012
‘You’re sorry that we are not any iller, aren’t you, Dr. Hurst?’ she remarked.
From The Youngest Girl in the School by Evelyn Sharp
The Black neighborhoods like Baldwin Hills Estates, Ladera Heights and View Park all sit hillside with some of the illest views in the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
His wife was told she should prepare for the worst, with staff describing her husband as "one of the illest people they'd ever seen".
From BBC ● May 21, 2024
Rapper Travis Scott told his nearly 12 million followers on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that Monday “might be one for the illest days in women’s sports historyyyyyyy.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 2, 2024
It’s one of the illest, if not the illest Caribbean food spots in the city.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 22, 2022
There was just a little milk that was reserved for the illest patients, no butter or bread.
From Field Hospital and Flying Column Being the Journal of an English Nursing Sister in Belgium & Russia by Violetta Thurstan
The pollution from the chimneys is worse at night, locals insist, when the smoke cannot be so clearly seen.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
No matter how much money donors throw at the problem, classroom instruction at elite institutions keeps getting worse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The only thing worse than being Britain’s enemy is being Britain’s friend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
“So we’re spending twice as much for a big reduction in population and worse results.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Their fighting had gotten worse after Celia’s grades took a nosedive and she didn’t get into the honors track for high school.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.3% on Thursday, its worst day since August.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
He arrived at that rate by calculating the lowest inflation-adjusted withdrawal rate that could nevertheless have been sustained by a 50% stock/50% bond portfolio in the worst 30-year period in U.S. history.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
"It kills me that the worst day of my life was just a normal Wednesday for everyone else," he says.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
And we will be fooled into believing that’s the best, or worst, thing comedy has to offer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Certainly, I thought, running without a head lamp would not be the worst thing I had ever done.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
