EN

Synonyms for ill

  • adjective
  • noun

Most common

unwell diseased ailing indisposed sick nauseous unfortunate unkind

Synonyms by meaning

Adjective

1. Indisposed — bad-tempered

indisposed, unwell, ailing, diseased, poorly UK, infirm, sickly, under the weather informal, out of sorts, unhealthy, faint, seedy

2. Sick — nauseated; having an urge to vomit

sick, wrong, wicked, nauseous, nauseated, queasy, hateful, disgusted, malevolent, disordered, naughty, malicious, iniquitous, sickish rare

3. Unfortunate — evil; wicked (of people)

unfortunate, evil, harmful, unfavorable US, unfavourable UK, ominous, inauspicious, unpropitious rare

4. Unkind

bad, unkind, ugly US, peevish, hostile, surly, crabbed

Other

dope, ropey

Noun

1. Ailment

ailment, complaint

2. Mischief

mischief, misfortune, harm, pain, injury, misery, affliction, damage, calamity, wickedness, depravity

Antonyms

good, well, healthy

All antonyms of ill →

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

    Evil; wicked (of people).

  2. adj. 2

    Nauseated; having an urge to vomit.

    Seeing those pictures made me ill.

  3. n. 1

    Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.

    Music won't solve all the world's ills, but it can make them easier to bear.

  4. n. 2

    Harm or injury.

    I wouldn't want you to do me ill.

Related words

Word family
ill-doing
Phrases
speak ill of ill-will ill luck ill humor fall ill do ill mentally ill take ill

Forms

Plural
ills → ailments, complaints, mischiefs, misfortunes…

Example sentences

  • unwell I pretended to be unwell in order to stay at home.
  • ailing Yanni left to Algiers to take care of his ailing mother.
  • indisposed His speech indisposed us to finish the work any more.
  • sick The doctor sat up all night with the sick old man.
  • nauseous The smell of macaroni and cheese makes me nauseous.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
illsteady
unwellrising
diseasedfalling
ailingrising
indisposedsteady
sickrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters
bad1
4 letters
pain1, sick1, evil2, harm1, ugly2, dope1
5 letters
wrong1, faint1, surly2, seedy2, ropey
6 letters
damage2, injury3, poorly2, wicked2, misery3, unwell2, ailing2, sickly2, unkind2, infirm2, queasy2
7 letters
hostile2, harmful2, naughty2, hateful2, ominous3, ailment2, peevish2, crabbed1, sickish
8 letters
mischief2, calamity4, diseased2, nauseous2
9 letters
complaint2, unhealthy3, malicious3, disgusted3, depravity4, nauseated4
10 letters
misfortune3, affliction3, disordered3, malevolent4, wickedness3, indisposed, iniquitous
11 letters
unfortunate4, unfavorable5
12 letters
unfavourable, inauspicious4, unpropitious

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (evil2 = 2 syllables).