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 mother of a baby who fell ill on holiday and cannot get home has said "every day is frightening and uncertain".
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
Mr. Blyth exudes a bland wholesomeness that’s an ill fit for the cynicism and cocky humor that define his character.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Care for an ill person under 40 was particularly high — $4,700 more per year than the out-of-pocket average.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
If you're as seriously ill as this - you'll never have to wait to be seen, but that means less serious cases are likely to wait even longer.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Her dress was ill fitting, snug across the shoulders and loose around the middle.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Pawlikowski has said that he keeps returning to the past in his films because addressing our modern ills directly would be too daunting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Time, perhaps, to question whether he's got the answers to the myriad ills of his team.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 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
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
And thus anyone who does not diagnose the ills when they arise in a principality is not really wise, and this talent is given to few men.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
"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
A lot of lassies like yon will be iller to keep together than a flock of sheep.
From The Lady of the Shroud by Bram Stoker
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
It was at the very first Coachella in ’99, so I guess for better or worse, everything is full circle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
Researchers and policymakers must consider not just whether these treatments work, but also whether they can be delivered without making existing disparities worse.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026
"What has made this unbearable pain even worse is the impact of trying to mourn our son when we have had to listen to others try to tarnish him."
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
The worse of times the more people think about it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
What’s worse is that her gift was gone.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
“It makes you feel like the worst biologist in the world when you don’t even know why,” said Hicks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
The Hollywood Reporter called her "wooden", and the Times declared that the show "may be the worst TV drama ever".
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
Reddit’s quarterly results and forecast sent its stock some 29% lower on Friday, marking its worst single-session percentage drop on record.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
On October 17, it also led to some of the worst unrest seen in France in years.
From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026
The worst was when spinach juice got onto mashed potatoes and turned them green.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
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