ill

Universal Words adjective, adverb, noun adjective 1 (especially BrE) (AmE usually sick) [notusuallybeforenoun] suffering from an illness or disease; not feeling well: Her father is seriously ill in St Luke's hospital. * She was taken ill suddenly. * We both started to feel ill shortly after the meal. * Uncle Harry is terminally ill with cancer (= he will die from his illness). * the mentally ill (= people with a mental illness) * (written) He fell ill and died soon after. seealsoILLNESS 2 [usuallybeforenoun] bad or harmful: He resigned because of ill health (= he was often ill). * She suffered no ill effects from the experience. * a woman of ill repute (= considered to be immoral) 3 (formal) that brings, or is thought to bring, bad luck: a bird of ill omen IDIOMS ill at ease feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed: I felt ill at ease in such formal clothes. it's an ill wind (that blows nobody any good) (saying) no problem is so bad that it does not bring some advantage to sb moreatFEELING adverb 1 (especially in compounds) badly or in an unpleasant way: The animals had been grossly ill-treated. 2 (formal) badly; not in a satisfactory way: They live in an area ill served by public transport. 3 (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. IDIOMS speak / think ill of sb (formal) to say or think bad things about sb: Don't speak ill of the dead. noun 1 [usuallypl.] (formal) a problem or harmful thing; an illness: social / economic ills * the ills of the modern world 2 [U] (literary) harm; bad luck: I may not like him, but I wish him no ill.