
ill | ill: adj. 1 ailing, unsound, sick, indisposed, infirm, unhealthy, in a bad way, diseased, afflicted, in bad health, sickly, unwell, not well, out of commission; invalided, valetudinarian; Colloq under the weather, in a bad way, poorly, not up to snuff, out of sorts, on the sick-list, off one''s feed, Slang Brit dicky, seedy: Call a doctor - this man is ill. I was rather ill last night after eating that fish mousse. 2 bad, wicked, sinful, evil, iniquitous, immoral, depraved, vicious, vile, wrong, corrupt: Police raided several houses of ill repute. 3 hostile, unfriendly, antagonistic, belligerent, malevolent, malicious, ill-wishing, unkind(ly), harsh, cruel: The reading of the bequests sparked ill will amongst the heirs. 4 harmful, hurtful, injurious, detrimental, damaging, pernicious, dangerous, adverse, deleterious, baleful, bad, unfavourable, destructive, disastrous, catastrophic, ruinous, cataclysmic: He suffered no lasting ill effects from the accident. 5 bad, miserable, wretched, disastrous, unfavourable, unpropitious, untoward, disturbing, unfortunate, unlucky, inauspicious, ominous, unpromising, sinister, unwholesome: Ill fortune led Ulysses to our isle. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. 6 ill at ease. uncomfortable, discomfited, uneasy, edgy, on edge, fidgety, nervous, anxious, disturbed, distressed, troubled, awkward, unsure, uncertain: I felt ill at ease in the presence of so august a personage. --n. 7 evil, abuse: Speak no ill of her in my home! 8 harm, damage, injury, hurt, mischief, trouble, misfortune, misery, affliction, pain, distress, woe, woefulness, discomfort, unpleasantness, disaster, catastrophe, cataclysm, calamity, adversity, damage, suffering, ruin, destruction: You will be held responsible if any ill befalls the children. 9 injustice, inequity, wrong, evil, sin, transgression, abuse, mistreatment, maltreatment: He entered politics hoping to cure some of society''s ills. --adv. 10 badly, adversely, unfavourably, poorly, inauspiciously, unfortunately, unluckily: Don''t speak ill of the dead. 11 badly, adversely, unfavourably, critically, harshly, unkindly: Please don''t think ill of me for failing to attend your wedding. 12 unkindly, harshly, unfairly, unjustly, improperly, badly, wrongly, wrongfully, unsatisfactorily, poorly, malevolently, maliciously: He insists that he was ill-treated when in prison. 13 scarcely, hardly, by no means, in no way: It ill behoves you to criticize other people''s English.
ill-advised | ill-advised: adj. 1 inadvisable, ill-judged, injudicious, ill-considered, misguided, unwise, imprudent, inappropriate, unpropitious, inexpedient, impolitic, wrong-headed, thoughtless; indiscreet: It would be ill-advised to sell your house at this time. 2 hasty, rash, reckless, impetuous, rash, foolhardy, incautious, short-sighted, improvident: Driving without a seat belt is ill-advised.
illegal | illegal: adj. unlawful, illegitimate, criminal, felonious, outlawed, prohibited, interdicted, forbidden, proscribed, wrongful, unauthorized, verboten, illicit, Law actionable: The bookkeeper was prosecuted for illegal appropriation of funds.
illegible | illegible: adj. unreadable, unintelligible, indecipherable or undecipherable, incomprehensible: An illegible message was scrawled on the wall.
illegitimate | illegitimate: adj. 1 See illegal. 2 bastard, natural, fatherless, born out of wedlock, born on the wrong side of the blanket, misbegotten: Illegitimate children were often offered for adoption in those days. 3 irregular, improper, incorrect, non-standard, invalid, unauthorized, spurious: Purists consider the reason is because an illegitimate usage.
ill-founded | ill-founded: adj. groundless, baseless, without foundation, unsupported, unsubstantiated, empty, unjustified, unproven, uncorroborated, unsound, erroneous: He wasted a great deal of time refuting her ill-founded accusations.
illicit | illicit: adj. 1 See illegal. 2 wrong, improper, underhand(ed), secret, furtive, clandestine, back-door, Colloq US sneaky: They grew rich on the proceeds of illicit liquor.
illiterate | illiterate: adj. unlettered, analphabetic; unschooled, untaught, uneducated, benighted, ignorant, unenlightened: She teaches illiterate people to read.
ill-mannered | ill-mannered: adj. rude, discourteous, impolite, ill-bred, uncivil, disrespectful, uncourtly, ungallant, ungracious, indecorous, ungentlemanly, unladylike, impudent, insolent, insulting, impertinent, brazen: That ill-mannered oaf didn''t even apologize for knocking me down.
illness | illness: n. sickness, disease, disorder, affliction, ailment, malady, complaint, infirmity, disability, indisposition, affection, Colloq bug: His illness is serious but not contagious.
ill-treat | ill-treat: v. mistreat, maltreat, abuse, misuse, harm, hurt, injure, persecute, mishandle: He is at last being punished for those years he ill-treated his wife.
illuminate | illuminate: v. 1 light (up), brighten, lighten, throw or cast or shed light on or upon: She had only a single candle to illuminate her sewing. 2 clarify, throw or cast or shed light on or upon, enlighten, clear up, elucidate, explain, explicate, reveal: The lectures on Heidegger illuminated his philosophy to some extent. 3 rubricate, decorate, adorn, embellish, ornament: The museum has the best collection of illuminated manuscripts.
illumination | illumination: n. 1 lighting, light, brightness, radiance, luminosity, incandescence, fluorescence, phosphorescence: The illumination from the fire was barely enough to read by. 2 enlightenment, insight, information, learning, revelation, edification, instruction, awareness, understanding, clarification: It is astonishing what illumination his lectures brought to his audiences.
illusion | illusion: n. 1 deception, delusion, fancy, misconception, misapprehension, fallacy, error, mistake, mistaken or false impression: He is labouring under the illusion that he is a great pianist. 2 fantasy, day-dream, hallucination, phantasm, phantom, chimera, phantasmagoria, mirage, aberration, vision, spectre, figment of the imagination, will-o''-the-wisp, ignis fatuus: For years after he died, she had the illusion of seeing her father everywhere.
illusory | illusory: adj. illusive, imaginary, fictional, unreal, untrue, fallacious, false, mistaken, imagined, fanciful, fancied, hallucinatory, deceptive, misleading, apparent,: Any financial gains that you perceive in the scheme are purely illusory.
illustrate | illustrate: v. 1 instance, exemplify, demonstrate: Let me illustrate my point with the following example. 2 picture, illuminate, grangerize; decorate, embellish, emblazon, ornament, adorn: We are looking for an artist to illustrate the book.
illustration | illustration: n. 1 example, case (in point), instance, sample, specimen, exemplar, Colloq for instance: This film is an illustration of the film noir genre. 2 picture, depiction, representation, figure: An illustration of a jet engine appears on page 32.
illustrious | illustrious: adj. distinguished, famous, noted, renowned, famed, eminent, well-known, prominent, important, notable, respected, esteemed, venerable, honoured, acclaimed, celebrated, great: He belongs in the same category as other illustrious generals, like Kitchener.
ill will | ill will: n. dislike, animosity, hatred, hate, loathing, abhorrence, detestation, malevolence, malice, hostility, enmity, animus, antipathy, aversion, rancour, acrimony, spite, venom, vitriol, acerbity: I bear her no ill will for the way she treated me. She incurred his ill will by refusing him access to the children.
