ILL, n.

1. Bad or evil, in a general sense; contrary to good, physical or moral; applied to things; evil; wicked; wrong; iniquitous; as, his ways are ill; he sets an ill example.
2. Producing evil or misfortune; as, an ill star or planet.
3. Bad; evil; unfortunate; as, an ill end; an ill fate.
4. Unhealthy; insalubrious; as, an ill air or climate.
5. Cross; crabbed; surly; peevish; as, ill nature; ill temper.
6. Diseased; disordered; sick or indisposed; applied to persons; as, the man is ill; he has been ill a long time; he is ill of a fever.
7. Diseased impaired; as, an ill state of health.
8. Discordant; harsh; disagreeable; as, an ill sound.
9. Homely; ugly; as, ill looks, or an ill countenance.
10. Unfavorable; suspicious; as when we say, this affair bears an ill look or aspect.
11. Rude; unpolished; as, ill breeding; ill manners.
12. Not proper; not regular or legitimate; as, an ill expression in grammar.

1. Not well; not rightly or perfectly. He is ill at ease.
2. Not easily; with pain or difficulty. He is ill able to sustain the burden. Ill bears the sex the youthful lovers' fate, When just approaching to the nuptial state. Dryden

prefixed to participles of the present tense, and denoting evil or wrong, may be considered as a noun governed by the participle, or as making a part of a compound word; as, an ill meaning man, an ill designing man, an ill boding hour; that is, a man meaning ill, an hour boding ill. It is more consonant, however, to the genius of our language, to treat these and similar words as compounds. In some cases, as before the participles of intransitive verbs, ill must be considered as a part of the compound, as in ill-looking When used before the perfect participle, ill is to be considered as an adverb, or modifying word, or to be treated as a part of the compound; as in ill-bred, ill-governed, ill-fated, ill-favored, ill-formed, ill-minded. In these and all similar connections, it might be well to unite the two words in a compound by a hyphen. As ill may be prefixed to almost any participle, it is needless to attempt to collect a list of such words for insertion.

1. Wickedness; depravity; evil. Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still, / Exerts itself and then throws off the ill. Dryden.
2. Misfortune; calamity; evil; disease; pain; whatever annoys or impairs happiness, or prevents success. Who can all sense of other's ills escape, / Is but a brute at best in human shape. Tate.

1. Contrary to good, in a physical sense; contrary or opposed to advantage, happiness, etc.; bad; evil; unfortunate; disagreeable; unfavorable.
   
   

   Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill markets, and ill neighbors. Bacon.

   There 's some ill planet reigns. Shak.

2. Whatever annoys or impairs happiness, or prevents success; evil of any kind; misfortune; calamity; disease; pain; as, the ills of humanity.
   
   

   Who can all sense of others' ills escape
   Is but a brute at best in human shape. Tate.

   That makes us rather bear those ills we have
   Than fly to others that we know not of. Shak.

3. In a ill manner; badly; weakly.
   
   

   How ill this taper burns! Shak.

   Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
   Where wealth accumulates and men decay. Goldsmith.

   * Ill, like above, well, and so, is used before many participal adjectives, in its usual adverbal sense. When the two words are used as an epithet preceding the noun qualified they are commonly hyphened; in other cases they are written separatively; as, an ill-educated man; he was ill educated; an ill-formed plan; the plan, however ill formed, was acceptable. Ao, also, the following: ill-affected or ill affected, ill-arranged or ill arranged, ill-assorted or ill assorted, ill-boding or ill boding, ill-bred or ill bred, ill- conditioned, ill-conducted, ill-considered, ill- devised, ill-disposed, ill-doing, ill-fairing, ill-fated, ill-favored, ill-featured, ill-formed, ill-gotten, ill-imagined, ill-judged, ill-looking, ill-mannered, ill-matched, ill-meaning, ill-minded, ill-natured, ill-omened, ill-proportioned, ill-provided, ill-required, ill-sorted, ill-starred, ill-tempered, ill-timed, ill-trained, ill-used, and the like.

4. Contraction for I will or I shall.
   
   

   I'll by a sign give notice to our friends. Shak.

5. Contrary to good, in a moral sense; evil; wicked; wrong; iniquitious; naughtly; bad; improper.
   
   

   Of his own body he was ill, and gave
   The clergy ill example. Shak.

6. Whatever is contrary to good, in a moral sense; wickedness; depravity; iniquity; wrong; evil.
   
   

   Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still,
   Exerts itself, and then throws off the ill. Dryden.

7. Sick; indisposed; unwell; diseased; disordered; as, ill of a fever.
   
   

   I am in health, I breathe, and see thee ill. Shak.

8. Not according with rule, fitness, or propriety; incorrect; rude; unpolished; inelegant.
   
   

   That 's an ill phrase. Shak.

   Ill at ease, uneasy; uncomfortable; anxious. "I am very ill at ease." Shak. -- Ill blood, enmity; resentment. -- Ill breeding, want of good breeding; rudeness. -- Ill fame, ill or bad repute; as, a house of ill fame, a house where lewd persons meet for illicit intercourse. -- Ill humor, a disagreeable mood; bad temper. -- Ill nature, bad disposition or temperament; sullenness; esp., a disposition to cause unhappiness to others. -- Ill temper, anger; moroseness; crossness. -- Ill turn. (a) An unkind act. (b) A slight attack of illness. [Colloq. U.S.] -- Ill will, unkindness; enmity; malevolence.

   Syn. -- Bad; evil; wrong; wicked; sick; unwell.