- (especially in compounds) badly or in an unpleasant way
- The animals had been grossly ill-treated.
- (formal) badly; not in an acceptable way
- They live in an area ill served by public transport.
- (formal) only with difficulty
- We're wasting valuable time, time we can ill afford.
- I can ill afford the time or the money for a holiday.
Word OriginMiddle English (in the senses ‘wicked’, ‘malevolent’, ‘harmful’, and ‘difficult’): from Old Norse illr ‘evil, difficult’, of unknown origin.
Idioms
See ill in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee ill in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbode well/ill (for somebody/something)
- (formal) to be a good/bad sign for somebody/something synonym augur
- These figures do not bode well for the company's future.
- The look on her face boded ill for anyone who crossed her path that day.
speak/think ill of somebody
- (formal) to say or think bad things about somebody
- Don't speak ill of the dead.
Check pronunciation:
ill