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:
“When she got ill ... she got out of her bed to sing this song. And you can hear that,” Bono told Rolling Stone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
My closest friend of more than 40 years is terminally ill, with most likely less than a year to live.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
In addition to worrying about his ill daughter, Bach mutters and growls about the Prussian troops rampaging through his town.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Many universities recommend planning ahead in case you feel ill and need some medical help at some point, especially if you're living away from home.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
“That is to say, I am sorry to hear that he is ill and had to stay home.”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
De Zerbi may feel he has addressed some of the ills in a squad that has finished 17th in the Premier League two seasons in succession.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 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
He was fed up with traveling through exotic countries selling shark-fin aphrodisiacs, ginseng to cure all ills, carved Eskimo statues, stuffed Amazonian piranhas, and chinchillas for ladies’ coats.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
"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
“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
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
The United Nations' top official for refugees warned on Friday that conditions for long-displaced people in Western Sahara were getting worse and that their humanitarian needs were starkly underfunded.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026
Citizens who aren’t likely to notice when their local newspaper becomes a bit more bare-bones, or that the already byzantine healthcare system becomes slightly harder to navigate, will definitely notice when their lunch gets worse.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
Gordon said that he had "never felt worse", after the game and believes that the "scar" left by defeat may mean the England squad take a different approach in the next tournament.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
As vexing as America’s fiscal picture seems, France is in worse shape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
But when the moment appears, it’s worse than I imagined.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Critics say that approach proved the worst of both worlds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Sharing his identity would disclose something that was at best salacious and at worst traumatic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Adrian, from Leicester, claimed it would be the "worst idea you could come up with".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
In the worst case she has seen, one of her clients was entangled in what appeared to be a romance scam.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
“No. I’m asking about chemistry because you mentioned it was your worst subject. I told you that calculus was mine. Remember?”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
