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:
The drug was generally well tolerated, and the critically ill patients in the trial lived longer than patients receiving standard treatments.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
But nothing about her suggests that she is terminally ill.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Amodei's alert came just as Altman said he would not pursue an initial public stock offering this year, saying it would be "ill advised" given the swirling safety concerns.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Pretty soon, I had shaken off my judgy ill temper, and returned to a state of benevolent appreciation for someone who was, for the most part, a pretty great colleague.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
I felt ill and must have looked it.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
To remedy these ills, the court needs top-to-bottom reform.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
Ultimately, a ballot initiative won’t cure the ills that plague healthcare in the United States, said the Lown Institute’s Saini.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
But no leader has been able to fix the country’s economic ills, which have been compounded by the decision to leave the European Union and a borrowing binge during Covid-19.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
A Google user experience team two years later detailed ills affecting viewer well-being, based on external research.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Bush’s speech contained nothing newsworthy about drug policy, or Nicaragua, or the Federal Reserve, or balancing the budget, or social ills, or the homeless.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
"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
Still, in his older, iller years, he's become kinder, even to himself, and though he wished he'd done some stuff better, he could live with it.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 23, 2012
“I shall be weaker and iller ever so much, sir, if I stop here,” said the boatswain.
From Syd Belton The Boy who would not go to Sea by Gordon Browne
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
Blaze is just one of the illest low heads.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2021
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 Edmund Gosse
Censorship, and worse, are the surest way to elevate an artist and their work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Both are still worse than bottom club Coventry, who are pointless and goalless, but have an xG of 4.21.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
He adds, “Nobody wants to live in a world where their individuality is questioned or worse, denied.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Nearly three decades in, “South Park” still knows that if you want to understand what Americans think they are becoming, you could do worse than look at what they’re ordering.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
What would be worse than to be punished is to be exposed.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Villa have had the lowest number of shots in the Premier League with 33, compared to Tottenham's 51, while their six on target is also the worst in the top flight followed by Spurs' 12.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
For the Dodgers, the worst tickets seldom fall to market rate, because the team would rather live with a few empty seats rather than condition fans to hold out for a lower price.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
The fact that the two worst crashes in stock-market history occurred in October is almost certainly nothing more than a coincidence.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
The 10-year Treasury note has logged its worst five-year return in more than a century, according to Goldman Sachs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Emma uses air quotes. “…in ‘whatever this place is called’ would be the worst thing imaginable.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
