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:
There is no evidence that Xi is gravely ill or that he had a stroke or fainting spell, as rumored across social media this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Kate Chatfield said her father had been in cognitive decline for the last year and had fallen ill on the day of his passing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
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
When he became ill, he sold many acres of good farmland to buy more of his favorite books.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
What drives societal ills or ignites a social movement?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
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
As Norway advance, is Wright correct about Scottish football's ills?
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 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
Ma believed that her bone soup could cure all kinds of ills.
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
"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
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
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
There are signs, moreover, that while AI is getting better, we’re getting worse.
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
Developments elsewhere could make the picture better or worse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
But the pain in my side is getting worse.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Also see: The 10-year Treasury is having its worst run in over 100 years.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
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
With an 82-80 record, the 2005 San Diego Padres currently hold the dubious honor of being the worst squad ever to qualify for the playoffs in an uninterrupted season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
A stylish, well-off family braces for the worst when its youngest member is mauled by a dog during a glitzy lawn party.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
Even though we were now free, and life was returning to some kind of normality, this was the worst time of all for me because Peter’s letters just stopped coming.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
