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:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1,600 people fell ill after eating at Taco Bell; we know of at least 141 who have been hospitalized.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
An Ohio man on Thursday sued a large Taco Bell franchisee, alleging he fell ill and tested positive for cyclospora after eating Taco Bell food in late June.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
However, opinion polls suggest a large majority of the French people support giving terminally ill people a choice of palliative care or assisted dying.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Don’t take the over-the-counter medication Imodium if you’re ill.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
When I went back to my dormitory, I received word that my mother was ill.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
As Dan Kois illustrates in this ode to kicking back with friends, spending unstructured time together is a blessedly simple cure to the ills of modern life.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
An experience completely ignorant to the ills of modern football, to politics, ticket prices or hydration breaks.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Complicating Iran’s recovery is a host of economic and social ills that predate the recent war, including a worsening banking crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
In their absence, the three remaining candidates pounded on a wide array of municipal ills, including broken sidewalks, high rents and sluggish housing production.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
In 1959 several British and French research teams found their independent studies pointing to a common conclusion — that some of humanity’s ills are caused by a disturbance of the normal chromosome number.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
"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
A lot of lassies like yon will be iller to keep together than a flock of sheep.
From The Lady of the Shroud by Stoker, Bram
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
A lingring death maye auaile my soule, but it is the illest of ills that can befortune my bodie.
From The Vnfortunate Traveller, or The Life Of Jack Wilton With An Essay On The Life And Writings Of Thomas Nash By Edmund Gosse by Gosse, Edmund
But the question remains whether we can change AI or the newly potent sound waves only make matters worse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
Ultimately, McIlroy finishing 148th in the putting strokes gained statistics - with only eight players worse in the field - illustrated where it had gone wrong.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Even worse air enveloped the central and western regions of the state.
From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026
Management isn’t expecting a worse second half, CFO Gonzalo Luchetti says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
It looked as if she was in a constant state of noticing danger, then assessing the danger, and then finally dismissing the now non-danger to make way for a possibly worse danger about to strike.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Farmers are also feeling the pinch of higher diesel prices, and the worst may be yet to come.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
Artle said the broken pipe unleashed the worst damage he’s seen in the 25 years he’s lived in the building.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Toronto, Canada’s largest city, suffered the world’s worst air quality this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
During the worst of the heatwave, Yurchak said he "basically had it on 24/7".
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
But Chase knew it was just the beginning of what, for some of them, would be the worst night of their lives.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
