▪ I. ill, a. and n.
(ɪl)
Also 2–6 ille, (4 ile, hil(l, hyl), 4–6 yll(e, yl, 4–7 il, (5 el, 6 yle).
[Early ME. ill, a. ON. illr ill, bad, wicked, difficult, injurious, etc. Ulterior etymology unknown; not related to OE. yfel, evil.
As an adjective, ill is now much less used in general English than as an adverb, and survives chiefly in certain connexions, as ill health, ill humour, ill temper, ill success; as an adverb (the opposite of well), it is, in certain constructions, regularly hyphened to the word which it qualifies, e.g. ill-advised, ill-bred, ill-conditioned, ill-spelt, etc.: in imitation of these, apparently, and from the feeling that it is not a general adjective, but one that goes only with particular substantives, the adjective is also often hyphened to its n., as in ill-humour, ill-will, etc.; but this is quite unnecessary; ill humour stands to ill-humoured just as grey hair to grey-haired.
Although ill is not etymologically related to evil, the two words have from the 12th c. been synonymous, and ill has been often viewed as a mere variant or reduced form of evil. This esp. in Sc., where v between two vowels early disappeared, and devil, even, Levenax, preve, shovel, Steven, became deil, ein, Lennox, pree, shool, Steen, so that evil might have become eil; hence, in 15–16th c. Sc., euil, euyl is found often written where ill was the word pronounced: e.g.
1500–20 Dunbar Poems xli. 10 (Bannatyne MS.) Be ȝe ane tratlar, that I hald als ewill [rimes thrill, will, still]. 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus iv. 117 And take the best, and set on syde all euill [rimes till, will, fulfill]. 1662 Epitaph (on Bailie Sword) at St. Andrews, The svord doeth often kill..This svord doeth no svch eivell.]
A. adj.
1. Morally evil; wicked, iniquitous, depraved, vicious, immoral, blameworthy, reprehensible. a. Of persons. Obs. exc. dial. Common in Sc.
| a 1200 Moral Ode 74 in Cott. Hom. 165 Lutel lac is gode lof þet kumeð of gode wille And ec-lete muchel ȝeue of þan þe herte is ille. a 1300 Cursor M. 886 (Gött.) Qui did þu þus, þu ille womman? 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6141 Þe gude sal be sette on his right hand, And þe ille on his lefte syde sal stand. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 169 More deppyr in the turmentis of helle shall bene the ille Prynces, than the ill subiectes. 1566 T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewel iv. 31 A very ill man, being justly excommunicat. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 513 They hurry him from one ill company to another. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Hist. i. iii. §2 The calumnies which ill men..contrived. 1813 Hogg Witch of Fife 1 Quhair haif ye been, ye ill womyne, These three lang nightis fra hame? 1861 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. clvii. 165 Let us hope that while there are ill ministers, there shall be no lack of unpalatable truth. 1865 G. Macdonald A. Forbes xiii. 49 Takin' up wi' ill loons like Sandy Forbes. 1871 Schele de Vere Americanisms 493 In Texas, the word ill has the..signification of ‘immoral’; and ‘an ill fellow’ means ‘a man of bad habits’. |
b. Of conduct or actions. Now somewhat arch.
| c 1200 Ormin 6647 Þatt mann iss fox..And full off ille wiless. a 1300 Cursor M. 42 Alle oure dedis, Both gode and ille. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 808 To amende and chaunge hys yll lyfe. 1701 Stanley's Hist. Philos. Biogr. 3 Creating..a Horrour for what is Base and Ill. 1736 Butler Anal. i. iii. Wks. 1874 I. 54 Ill or mischievous actions should be punished. 1829 Landor Imag. Conv. Ser. ii. Barrow & Newton II. 50 Correct your own ill habits. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 307 Many tales..Of the ill deeds our fathers used to do. |
c. Of estimation, repute, opinion, or name: Such as imputes or implies evil in the person or thing referred to.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 195/1 An ille fame, jnfamia. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 63 He that hath an yll name, is halfe hangd. 1640–4 Ld. Finch in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 124 That ill opinion which may perhaps be conceived of me. 1741 Watts Improv. Mind i. iii. §4 Prone to put an ill sense upon the actions of their neighbours. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1808) I. vii. 123 At a house of ill report, where she formerly had kept a milliner's shop. 1870 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xxxvii. 6 The darkness of his sorrow and his ill-repute shall both flee away. |
2. a. Marked by evil intent, or by want of good feeling; malevolent, hostile, unfriendly, adverse, unkind, harsh, cruel. (See also ill blood, ill treatment, ill will.)
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 3960 Wyþ schrewes he dide hem many yl pul. c 1360 Ipotis 285 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 344 Adam onswerde wordes ille. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 232 b, Revilyng hym with suche yll wordes, and so shamful termes. 1640–4 Ld. Finch in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 124 Ill office I never did to any of the House. 1680 Allen Peace & Unity 27 To forbear all hard speeches, and ill reflexions on them that differ from them. 1808 Jamieson, s.v. ‘He's very ill to his wife.’ 1819 Shelley Cenci v. iv. 150 Ill tongues shall wound me. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiv. II. 458 In spite of the ill offices of the Jesuits. 1868 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 395 The ill-feeling against the foreign residents. |
b. Of an animal: Of evil disposition; fierce, savage, vicious. Now dial.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. clxxxvi. 162 The forsayd dragon shold be ladde by an ylle grehounde. 1574 T. Hill Ord. Bees ix, The fierce bees are very ill. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Ill, vicious,..common in Texas; as, ‘Is your dog ill?’ meaning, is he vicious? 1888 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore I. No. 2 The negro..says a horse that is cross, or threatens harm, is ill, though in excellent health. |
3. a. Doing or tending to do harm; hurtful, injurious, pernicious, noxious, mischievous, prejudicial; dangerous. Prov. ill weeds grow apace.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 157 Addrus and ypotamus, and oþure ille wormus. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Ninian 203 Þare he saw sawyne il seide. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §20 The thistyll is an yll wede. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. i. x. (1867) 22 Ill weede growth fast. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 106 Prawnes..I told thee they were ill for a greene wound. 1611 ― Wint. T. ii. i. 106 There's some ill Planet raignes. 1669 Evelyn Diary 10 July, It will be of ill consequence. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxxvi, Doubt and Death, Ill brethren. 1860 Hawthorne Marb. Faun (1879) II. v. 54 The good or ill result. |
† b. Unwholesome, injurious to health. Obs.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 155 Ill meyt and drynk thai gert on till hym giff. 1640 Quarles Enchirid. iv. 55 Ill diet may hasten them unto their journey's end. 1726 Swift Gulliver i. i, Dead by immoderate labour and ill food. |
4. Causing pain, discomfort, or inconvenience: offensive, painful, disagreeable, objectionable.
| c 1220 Bestiary 526 Wiles ðar [? ðat] weder is so ille. a 1300 Cursor M. 16774 (Gött.) [Þ]at bitter drinc..he tasted it, bot..it was selcuth ill. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 79 Ill dremes and fantasies. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 103 Great raine and yll wether. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ps. xxxiii. 22 The death of sinners is verie il. 1655 W. Fulke's Meteors Observ. 174 Copper..giveth no ill taste or smell to meat boyled in it. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. i. (1841) I. 32 If it be but a little ill weather. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos II. ix. 113 A knight riding up to him, told him he would die an ill death. 1876 Gladstone Homeric Synchr. 185 They fell into ill weather which destroyed their vessel. |
5. Of conditions, fortune, etc.: Miserable, wretched, unfortunate, unlucky; disastrous, unfavourable, untoward, unpropitious. Prov. it's an ill wind that blows nobody good.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4038 Quo-so wile cursing maken, Ille cursing sal him taken. 1450–70 Golagros & Gaw. 1243 Ane gude chance or ane ill. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 140 It is an yll wynde that blowth no man to good. 1580 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1622) 349, I go blindfold whether the course of my ill-happe carries me. 1611 Bible Isa. iii. 11 Woe vnto the wicked, it shall be ill with him. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 98 It was his ill fate, to be a sleepe, as old Abbas was going a hunting. 1725 Pope Odyss. xxiv. 176 Ill fortune led Ulysses to our isle. 1771 Antiq. Sarisb. Salisb. Ballad 21 note, The Church..was founded in an Ill-hour..for the Steeple was burnt down by lightening, the day after 'twas finished. 1879 Froude Cæsar vii. 61 Choosing an ill moment for a revolution. |
6. Difficult, troublesome, hard. (Usually with dat. inf., as ‘ill to please’.)
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 181 Þat castelle was fulle strong, & ille for to wynne. 1517 R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 2, I passyd an ill mountayne all a lone. 1551 Turner Herbal i. P v b, Epimedum..is strange and yll to fynde. 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 4 A defeate, where the conquered kept both field and spoile: a shipwrack without storme or ill footing. 1644 Evelyn Diary 12 Apr., The country dos not much molest the traveller with dirt and ill way. 1647 Sprigge Anglia Rediv. i. iv. (1854) 25 By reason of the moat, the access was ill to it. 1711 Countrey-Man's Lett. to Curate 57 He was not ill to please. 1838 Tupper Proverb. Philos., Beauty (ed. 9) 308 Beauty is intangible, vague, ill to be defined. |
7. a. In privative sense: Not good; of deficient or inferior quality or condition; of little or no worth; defective, poor, imperfect, unsatisfactory, not up to the standard; faulty, erroneous; (of an agent or his work) unskilful, inexpert (at), inefficient.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21805 Þis tale, queþer it be il or gode, I fand it written o þe rode. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 64 A full ill land and sandy and lytill fruyt berand. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vi. xvi, I am an ylle clymber and the tree is passynge hyghe. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiv. 56 Ane browstar swoir the malt wes ill. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. ii. 6 'Tis an ill Cooke that cannot licke his owne fingers. 1602 ― Ham. ii. ii. 120, I am ill at these Numbers: I haue not Art to reckon my grones. 1653 Walton Angler Ep. Ded. 1, I have made so ill use of your former favors. 1727 Swift Gulliver iii. iv, So ill an ear for music. 1782 Mann in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 423 He has the ill-taste to prefer London to Paris. 1800 Addison Amer. Law Rep. 62 The declaration was ill, in not alledging [etc.]. 1833 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Wedding, I am ill at describing female apparel. 1870 Ruskin Lect. Art i. (1875) 3 The first shoots of it enfeebled by ill gardening. |
b. Of manners or behaviour: Not up to the standard of propriety; improper.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 22 We rebuke the ill demeanors of our children. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 162 Ol. What manner of man? Mal. Of verie ill manner: hee'l speake with you, will you, or no. 1655 Fuller Hist. Camb. iii. 54 Ill Manners occasion Good laws, as the Handsome Children of Ugly Parents. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii. iii, My host seems to think it ill manners to leave me alone. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 15, I shall have to praise myself, which would be ill manners. |
8. a. Of health or bodily condition: Unsound, disordered. Hence, of persons (formerly, also, of parts of the body): Out of health, sick, indisposed, not well; almost always used predicatively.
(The prevailing mod. sense.)
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 231 Bot a sekenes I feyll that haldys me full haytt..Therfor full sore am I and yll. c 1575 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 168, I..am yet as il almost as ever I was..But as soone as I shal recoover mi helth [etc.]. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 582 Th' Il-habitude [turned] into the Dropsie chill. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. iv. 54 By my troth I am exceeding ill, hey ho. 1628 Winthrop Let. 7 Apr. in Hist. New Eng. (1853) I. 420 My hand is so ill as I know not when I shall be able to travel. 1637 Brian Pisse-Proph. (1679) 115 Whereas he..before..was sick but a little in jest, he feels himself iller already with this message. 1660 Pepys Diary (1875) I. 127 My eye was very red and ill, in the morning. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 227 There was one little Child ill of the Small-pox. 1698 [see ill health, ill-health]. 1712 W. Rogers Voy. 160 Another lying dangerously ill. 1806 Med. Jrnl. XV. 380, I..could get no other account from her, than that ‘she was ill all over’. 1843 Sir C. Scudamore Med. Visit Gräfenberg 50 One month after this attack, he was taken ill in a similar way. 1849 James Woodman xii, Children are well and ill in a day. 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. 33 Prolonged ill-health. 1897 Mamie Dickens My Father 66 A solemn clergyman..summoned to administer consolation to a very ill man. |
b. = sick a. 2.
| 1928 C. F. S. Gamble Story N. Sea Air Station 244 Before they could be attended they were given too much food and were violently ill as a result. 1929 A. Conan Doyle Maracot Deep 153 The sight was so horrifying that we were all ill. |
9. In special collocations (often unnecessarily hyphened): ill desert, the fact of deserving ill, demerit, blameworthiness (so ill deserving); ill ease, discomfort, uneasiness; † ill eye = evil eye (see evil a. 6); ill fame (see 1 c.); esp. in house of ill fame (see house n. 11); ill grace (see grace n.); † ill hail (see hail n.2 2); ill house, a house of ill fame; ill part (see part n.); † ill rule, disorderly conduct, misrule (also attrib.); ill success, imperfect success (sense 6); often = want of success, failure (cf. 5); ill temper (see temper n.); ill thief (Sc.), the devil: see thief; † ill year, misfortune, disaster [app. suggested by goodyear]. See also ill breeding, ill humour, etc.
| 1736 Butler Anal. i. vi. 113 Vitious and of *Ill-desert. 1861 G. Moberly Serm. Beatit. 14 None knows, as he knows, his own weakness and personal ill-desert. |
| a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circ. ii. (1874) 280 My life seems made for other lives' *ill-ease. |
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 138 To defend them from mischances, and the poison of *ill eies. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 159 What Magick has bewitched the Woolly Dams, And what ill Eyes beheld the tender Lambs? |
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xiv. iii, If he had the least suspicion of me keeping an *ill house. |
| 1556 Nottingham Rec. IV. 111 For kepyng of *ylle reulle howrs in hyr howsse. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Berlans,..houses of ill rule or gaming. |
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 145 *Ill successe of the Christian armies. 1665 Pepys Diary 20 Aug., My Lord is unblameable in all this ill-successe. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 291 The ill success of these expeditions. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. II. xxii. 25 Disheartened by former ill-success. |
| 1598 Barret Theor. Warres 120, I wish the *ill yeare to his Eggars and setters-on. |
10. In Comb.: see ill- below.
B. n. [absolute use of the adj.]
1. Evil, in the widest sense (= evil n. 1 a); the opposite of good. (Now chiefly in antithesis with good.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 939 Bath þe god and il knauand. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1615 Wa till yhow þat says with will Þat ille es gud and gud es ill. a 1400–50 Alexander 4216 Þat we cuthe any-gates gesse betwyx gud and ill. c 1605 Rowley Birth Merl. ii. ii, Great good must have great ill as opposite. 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 111 What makes all physical or moral ill? 1850 Tennyson In Mem. liv, Oh yet we trust that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill. |
2. a. Moral evil, depravity, wickedness, iniquity, sin, wrong-doing. arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 501 Þai mai neuermar held til il. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Paulus 800 In yll þe tyrand had sic Ioy. 1426 Audelay Poems 8 Mon..has fre choys..Weder he wyl do good or ylle. 1580 Sidney Ps. v. ii, Thou hatest all whose workes in ill are plac'd. 1608–33 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows (1851) 58 Those men, which will ever be either doing nothing, or ill. 1697 Ken Hymn, ‘Glory to Thee’ ii, Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son, The ill that I this day have done. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 79 ¶9 Many People call themselves Virtuous, from no other Pretence to it but an Absence of Ill. 1818 Shelley Rev. Islam x. vi, Strange natures made a brotherhood of ill. Ibid., Each one the other thus from ill to ill did lure. |
† b. A wicked or sinful act, a misdeed. Obs.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 577 Alle illez he hates as helle þat stynkkez; But non nuyez hym..As harlottrye vnhonest. a 1340 Hampole Psalter vii. 3 Pride..is rote of all illes. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) Gg iv b, To chastyse vs for our ylles. 1604 Eliz. Grymeston Miserere xix. in Misc., If thou sinne offrings hadst desired..How gladly those for all my illes I would haue yeelded thee! 1675 Otway Alcib. iv. i, And set her Ills off with a winning Dress. 1741 Mrs. Montagu Lett. I. 271 Who does an ill receives a punishment. |
3. † a. Hostile, malevolent, or unfriendly feeling, ill will: in phr. in ill, etc.; to take (a thing) in (at, to) ill = to take it ill, take offence at it. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5660 Ȝyt ȝaue he hyt with no gode wylle, But kast hyt aftyr hym with ylle. c 1330 ― Chron. (1810) 25 Whan Alfrid & Gunter had werred long in ille. c 1340 Cursor M. 21898 (Fairf.) Againe him we were in il. a 1400 Octavian 1152 Syr, take hyt not yn ylle. c 1430 Syr Gener. 7447, I besech you take it not at yl. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 442 Y pray yow take hit not to ille. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxx. 20 Tak it nocht in ill. |
b. In reference to opinion or the expression of it: Something blameful, unfavourable, unfriendly, or injurious. (Perh. orig. the adverb: cf. next 2 b.)
| 1414 Brampton Penit. Ps. 18 Ne with here tungys blemysch my name, And speke me ille. 1569 J. Rogers Gl. Godly Loue 184 Not once one to hear yl of another. 1656 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age (1659) 264 Many began now to speak ill of him. 1778 F. Burney Diary Aug., I will allow no man to speak ill of [him]..that he does not deserve. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 177 Plumer knew no ill of him. Mod. I can think no ill of him. |
4. Evil as caused or inflicted; harm, injury, mischief.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Paulus 582 Þat man has done gret il ay To þame, þat ar to þe lele men. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xiv. v, What dost thow here? He ansuerd I doo neyther good nor grete ylle. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxlvi. 552 Al the ylles and damages that he hath done to you. 1611 Bible Rom. xiii. 10 Loue worketh no ill to his neighbour. 1689–90 Temple Health & Long Life Wks. 1731 I. 284 The only Ill of it lies in the too much or too frequent Use. 1760 ‘Portia’ Polite Lady xxvii. 123 Lest I should do myself more ill than good. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xiv, Wad there be ony ill in getting out o' thae chields' hands an' ane could compass it? |
5. a. Evil as suffered or endured; misfortune, calamity, disaster, trouble, distress. † to give oneself ill, to distress or trouble oneself, to grieve.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3037 ‘Abraham’, [the angel] said, ‘giue þe not ill’. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxii. 5, I sall dred nan ill. a 1400 Isumbras 93 Thay wepede sare and gaffe thame ille. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 821 He..Sighed sore, and gaff hym ylle. 1502 Atkinson tr. De Imitatione iii. xix. 212 As gladly shall I take by thy grace yll as good, bitter thynges as swete. 1598 Yong Diana 33 One day I do conforme me to my fortune, And to my griefe..Next day mine yll doth vex me, and importune My soule with thoughts of griefe. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 141 They have their nativity cast to know if good or ill shall befall them. 1771 Mackenzie Man Feel. xl. (1803) 76 We frequently observe the tidings of ill communicated as eagerly as the annunciation of good. 1842 Tennyson Two Voices 107 Still heaping on the fear of ill The fear of men, a coward still. |
b. (with pl.) A misfortune, a calamity, a disaster; an adversity.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxxix. 7 Many yllys are agayns me. 1546 Heywood Prov. (1867) 10 Of two yls, choose the least. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 209 (According to the olde proverbe) one yll commeth never alone. 1665 Dryden Ind. Emperor ii. ii, The Ills of Love, not those of Fate, I fear. 1742 Gray Ode Prospect Eton Coll. 61 No sense have they of ills to come. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 95 We communicate to each other only the ills of life. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. xlv. 182 To enact some measure meant to cure a pressing ill. |
6. Bodily disorder, disease, sickness. (Chiefly Sc. or north.) Frequent in popular names of diseases or distempers. comitial ill, epilepsy: see comitial 1 b. See also child-ill s.v. child n. 22.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Jacobus minor 577 Full besyly can he spere Of his seknes þe manere, And of þe cause als of þe Ile. 1450 Myrc 365 That maketh a body to cache el. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 139 Sum langis for the liffyr ill to lik of ane quart. 1588 Greene Perimedes 8 Mightie men cannot brooke the touch of their ill. 1652 Falling-ill [see falling ppl. a. 5]. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell i. iii, Peter now grew old, and had An ill no doctor could unravel. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Ill, a disease. The ‘milk ill’ and the ‘quarter ill’ are diseases common among sheep. |
† 7. the ill: That which is faulty or erroneous; the wrong side in an argument. Obs.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 100 Þe bisshop schewed him skille þat he mayntend þe ille. |
8. In Comb.: see ill- II below.
▸ slang (orig. U.S., in the language of rap and hip-hop). a. Aggressive, irrational, crazy; unpleasant, bad.
| 1979 G. O'Brien et al. Rapper's Delight (song, perf. ‘Sugarhill Gang’) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 325 Now there's a time to laugh, a time to cry A time to live, and a time to die... To act civilized or act real ill. 1982 M. Pond Valley Girls' Guide to Life 36 That is so ill. 1985J. Simmons My Adidas (song, perf. ‘Run-DMC’) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 273 Now me and my Adidas do the illest thing We like to stamp out pimps with diamond rings. 1995 Grand Royal No. 2. 30/2, I threw some elbows and got in the dust but these girls were ill, so I grabbed each one by the back of the neck and shook 'em till they stopped. 1997 Touch May 30/2 If we hadn't come through, things would have kicked off. It could have gotten ill, but we just took control. |
b. Excellent, attractive; fashionable.
| 1986 M. Diamond et al. Rhymin' & Stealin' (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 13 Most illin-est b-boy, I got that feelin' 'Cause I am most ill and I'm rhymin' and stealin'. 1991 H. Nelson & M. A. Gonzales Bring the Noise 91 Dressed to kill, her physique is ill. 2000 D. Adebayo My Once upon a Time (2001) iv. 86, I..watched as she, her fine arse and those ill denims, stepped inside. 2003 N.Y. Mag. 4 Aug. 31/2 You have any qualms with anyone..you take it to the dance floor... It's about being known as the dopest, the baddest, the freshest, the illest around. |
▪ II. ill, adv.
(ɪl)
Forms: (? 2) 3–5 ille, 3–5 ylle, 3–6 yll, 3– ill, (4 il).
[Early ME. ille, f. ill a.; cf. ON. illa adv., Sw. illa, Da. ilde.]
In an ill manner, badly.
(Like other advs., ill is, for syntactical reasons, hyphened to a following adj., when the latter is used attributively, as ‘an ill-built house’, but not when used predicatively, as in ‘the house is ill built’. But examples of the unnecessary use of the hyphen in the latter construction are very frequent.)
1. Wickedly, sinfully, blameworthily. (In modern use, with weakened force and associated with other senses, esp. 6 b.)
| c 1205 Lay. 5426 Þe king wes stille: & þa swiken speken ille. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1706 Sichem..hire ille bi-nam. a 1300 Cursor M. 6531 Son he herd tiþand tell Þat his folk had ful il don. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 49 He betraied my lord, & my sonne fulle ille. Ibid. 163 Þe dede þat I did ille. 1601 in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 433 My youth ill-spent, and worne by women's guile. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 8 Plausible pretences for behaving as ill as they pleased. 1793 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) III. 46 He, being a little more drunk than usual, behaved extremely ill. |
2. With malevolent action, in an unfriendly manner, unkindly, harshly, wrongfully.
| c 1300 Havelok 1952 Hwo haues þe þus ille maked, Þus toriuen, and al mad naked? 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. lxxix. 162 b, The enimies..handeled our men very ill. 1773 Mrs. Chapone Improv. Mind (1774) II. 16 Those who treat you ill without provocation. 1830 Macaulay Let. to Napier 16 Sept. in Trevelyan Life (1876) I. 200 If you had used me ill, I might complain. |
b. With unfavourable estimation, blamefully: chiefly in phr. to speak, think, etc. ill (of); so † to hear ill, to be ill spoken of (see hear 12).
| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 189 Thei grudged, and spake ill of the hole Parliament. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 66 He [is] ill reputed of that forbeareth so to do. 1631 Sanderson Serm. II. 8 All our speeches and actions are ill-interpreted. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 51 Nationall corruption, for which England hears ill abroad. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 439 ¶4 A Man..Inquisitive after every thing which is spoken ill of him. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 169 Ill as he thought of his species, he never became a misanthrope. |
c. With hostility, aversion, displeasure, or offence: chiefly in phrases to like ill = † (a) to displease (obs.), (b) to dislike, be displeased with (arch.); to take ill = to take offence at, take amiss.
| c 1200 Ormin 18279 He..ræfeþþ þe þin allderrdom And tet [= thee it] maȝȝ ille likenn. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xx. 61 Alle we shule deye, thah us like ylle. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 1033 Of that syght lykyd hym full yll. 1596 Harington Metam. Ajax Pref. (1814) 2 Some will take it ill..because they doe ill understand it. 1664 Evelyn Sylva xvii. §2. 36 The Aspen..takes it ill to have his head cut off. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-moth. Ded., The Town has not receiv'd this Play ill. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 627 This suggestion was so ill received that he made haste to explain it away. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 480 Mr. Stewart..liked the move of his neighbour..exceedingly ill. |
3. Sorely, painfully, grievously, unpleasantly. Obs. exc. dial.
| a 1275 Prov. ælfred 652 in O.E. Misc. 137 Þe bicche bitit ille. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10976 He gird hir to ground, and greuit hir yll. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvi. 367, I praye you gete me some mete, for I am yll a hungred. a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. xv, Sum fled and ill mischievit. Mod. (Yorkshire dial.) He was ill clemmed. |
† 4. Banefully, hurtfully, injuriously. Obs.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 195/1 Ille, male, perniciose. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 34 They chose rather to counsell him ill and please him, then to advise him well and contradict him. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Introd., Wks. (1847) 80/2 As with him whose outward garment hath been injured and ill bedighted. |
5. Unfavourably, unpropitiously; unfortunately, unhappily.
| c 1325 Metr. Hom. 149 Ic haf sped ful ille. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxvii. 6 Yll was thou ded, so wo is me that I it ken. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 55 Ill blowes the winde that profits no body. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 35 If it succeeded ill, the losse would be generall. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 25 A Town ill scituate; for if they had considered health..they would never have set it there. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xxii. 273 Let them be young or old, well-married or ill-married. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 51 Ill fares the land..Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. 1864 Doran Their Majesties Serv. I. 21 But for the sympathy of the Earl of Leicester, it would have gone ill with these players. |
6. Of manner or quality of performance: a. Not well; defectively, imperfectly, poorly; hardly, scarcely. Sometimes (with mixture of sense 3), With trouble, difficulty, or inconvenience.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23851 (Gött.) Ill worth [Fairf. worþi] it es to tell þe feild, Þat noght again þe sede will ȝeild. a 1400 Isumbras 558 Poure mene þat myghte ille goo. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 1 Lord, what these weders ar cold! and I am yll happyd. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 31 Things..ill beseeming or unworthy their reputation. 1654 Z. Coke Logick (1657) 35 A man cutteth ill if he have a blunt knife. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 163 Ill worthie I such title should belong To me transgressour. 1725 Pope Odyss. vi. 79 Blushes ill-restrained betray Her thoughts. 1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds iii. 34 We can ill spare him. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxiv. 301 The upper Ludlow rock is ill developed. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 484 With an intemperance which..ill becomes the judicial character. |
b. Badly, faultily, improperly; unskilfully.
| 1540 R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) I ij, If thou answere not quickly, thou shalt be called proude, or ill brought up. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. June 72, I play to please myselfe, all be it ill. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 138 Not many words, and those few ill exprest. 1670 Sir S. Crow in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 15 The silke..beeing ill woven will shrink. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 139 The Houses are but low and ill built. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 66 Figures ill pair'd, and Similes unlike. 1774 Chesterfield Lett. (1792) I. lett. 42 (tr.) 134 Shop-keepers, common people, footmen and maid-servants, all speak ill. 1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma (1876) 85 The admitted duties themselves come to be ill-discharged. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 2 Apr. 2/2 The entertainer..recited, by no means ill, the celebrated ‘All the world's a stage’ speech. |
7. Phrases. a. ill at ease: see ease n. 7 b; hence ill-at-easeness (nonce-wd.), the state of being ill at ease. b. ill-to-do: in poor circumstances, poor needy (the opposite of well-to-do). ill-off: in an unprosperous condition, badly off (the opposite of well-off): see off.
| a. 1565 Sir T. Gresham in Burgon Life (1839) II. 443, I am right sorry that my Lady..is yll at ease. 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 119 The virtuous son is ill at ease When his lewd father gave the dire disease. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 349 Ill was the King at ease. 1882 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. cxx. 9 As ill-at-ease among lying neighbours as if he had lived among savages. 1890 R. Broughton Alas! i. xxiii, Elizabeth's evident ill-at-easeness. |
| b. 1853 Lynch Self-Improv. v. 115 A most honourable ill-to-do class..fighting a good fight with poverty. 1887 Pater Imag. Portraits 2 He is not ill-to-do, and has lately built himself a new stone house. 1889 Charity Organis. Rev. May 221 There is room for doubt whether the well-to-do man's conviction of the ill-to-do man's discomfort really leads to useful action. |
8. In Comb.: see ill- III. below.
▪ III. ill, v. Obs. exc. dial.
(ɪl)
[f. ill a.]
† 1. trans. To contrive maliciously. Obs.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxxxii. 3 On þi folke þai illid counsaile [L. malignaverunt consilium]. |
† 2. To cause ill or evil to; to harm, hurt, injure, wrong. Obs.
| c 1220 [see illing]. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. v. xxvi, That wyll payre and yll thy name. 1583 T. Watson Centurie of Loue c. (Arb.) 137 To pacyfie my minde, By illing him, through whome I liu'd a slaue. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. iii. xviii. 52 My wretched Cause of your repaire, by wicked Romaines ild. 1614 Sylvester Panaretus 454 Appeerd an Old-man (as one deeplie illd). |
3. To speak ill of, abuse, malign, disparage.
| c 1530 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. 100 To ill thy foe, doth get to thee hatred and double blame. 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words 39 To ill, to reproach, to speak ill of another. 1683 Meriton Yorksh. Dialogue 15 You Ill my Farm, for you have said to some, You'r quite undone and beggar'd sine you come. 1878 Cumberld. Gloss., Do n't ill a body if you can't say weel o' yan. |
▸ intr. U.S. slang (orig. and chiefly in the language of rap and hip-hop). To behave badly or irrationally. Cf. ill adj. and n. Additions a.
| 1986 ‘Beastie Boys’ (title of album) Licensed to ill. 1988‘Slick Rick’ Treat her like Prostitute (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 298 Next thing you know, the ho starts to ill She says, ‘I love you, Harold’ and your name is Will. 1997 Jet 22 Sept. 40/1, I was illing, juggling all of these ladies and not respecting any of them—or myself. 2002 Entertainm. Weekly 2 Aug. 41 ‘Mike's illin',’ Nelly says, shaking his head sadly. |
▪ IV. ill
(in 3 illen)
scribal var. of hill v.1 to cover.
| a 1300 Body & Soul 69 (MS. Digby 86, lf. 196 b), Þe þridde dai flod shal flouen þat al þis world shal illen [MS. Harl. 2253 lf. 57 a, hylen: rimes swyle, myle, while]. |