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 FDA made recommendations, including that Taylor improve hand-washing procedures and encourage ill employees to submit stool samples for analysis to help determine the region’s risk for cyclospora.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
"I went from being a very healthy, fit teenage girl to having this very intensive treatment that made me very ill," Waters-Barnes said.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
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
Sometimes she works with family members of someone who is ill, who she said are mostly looking to muster resources and handle what’s in front of them.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
His father was still deathly ill, lying down in the larger canoe that followed him.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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
In the video, Pratt stood outside Raman’s Silver Lake home and the city-owned Getty House in Hancock Park, where Bass lives, contending both are far removed from the urban ills that beset other Angelenos.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 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
"Their energy and creativity are invaluable. Investing in their education, training, and entrepreneurship is essential for peace and for preventing the loss of talent and the spread of social ills," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
Without proper training and conditioning—and sometimes even with them—competitive rowers are apt to experience a wide variety of ills in the knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, ribs, neck, and above all the spine.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
"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
The more she reflected upon what her possibilities had been and how she had misused them, the iller and the more distressed she got.
From Stories by American Authors, Volume 6 by Various
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
Their response is meant to protect the brain, but it may ultimately make the situation worse.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
There are worse things than needing to escape a world trying to crush you.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
The stock dropped 25% Tuesday after IBM warned second-quarter results would be far worse than expected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
My husband had devotedly nursed me through my own illness, only to be hit by one far worse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
They were in worse shape than I had thought.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The international uproar that followed overwhelmed the U.S. team, which played its worst game of the tournament against Belgium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
At these levels, the worst might well be priced in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
It's a defender's worst nightmare and it is so hard to defend against.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
"Left behind are hundreds of political prisoners and an entire people enduring perhaps the worst moment in their history. He has not forgotten this."
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
The worst thing is to have an earthquake that smashes the entire camper, water jugs included.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
