a. [ The regular comparative and superlative are wanting, their places being supplied by worse nd worst from another root. ] [ OE. ill, ille, Icel. illr; akin to Sw. illa, adv., Dan. ilde, adv. ] 1. Contrary to good, in a physical sense; contrary or opposed to advantage, happiness, etc.; bad; evil; unfortunate; disagreeable; unfavorable. [ 1913 Webster ]

Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill markets, and ill neighbors. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

There 's some ill planet reigns. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Contrary to good, in a moral sense; evil; wicked; wrong; iniquitious; naughtly; bad; improper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of his own body he was ill, and gave
The clergy ill example. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Sick; indisposed; unwell; diseased; disordered; as, ill of a fever. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am in health, I breathe, and see thee ill. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Not according with rule, fitness, or propriety; incorrect; rude; unpolished; inelegant. [ 1913 Webster ]

That 's an ill phrase. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ill at ease, uneasy; uncomfortable; anxious. “I am very ill at ease.” Shak. --
Ill blood, enmity; resentment; bad blood. --
Ill breeding, lack 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a ill manner; badly; weakly. [ 1913 Webster ]

How ill this taper burns! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Whatever annoys or impairs happiness, or prevents success; evil of any kind; misfortune; calamity; disease; pain; as, the ills of humanity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who can all sense of others' ills escape
Is but a brute at best in human shape. Tate. [ 1913 Webster ]

That makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Whatever is contrary to good, in a moral sense; wickedness; depravity; iniquity; wrong; evil. [ 1913 Webster ]

Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still,
Exerts itself, and then throws off the ill. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Incapable of falling or erring; infalliable. [ Obs. ] -- Il`la*bil"i*ty n. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

a. [ L. illacerabilis: cf. F. illacérable. See In- not, and Lacerable. ] Not lacerable; incapable of being torn or rent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. illacrimabilis; pref. il- not + lacrimabilis worthy of tears. ] Incapable of weeping. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A mountian in Bolivia, 20, 873 feet high. [ proper name ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Pref. il- not + lapsable. ] Incapable of slipping, or of error. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Morally immutable and illapsable. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Illapsed p. pr. & vb. n. Illapsing. ] [ L. illapsus, p. p. of illabi; pref. il- in + labi to fall, slide. ] To fall or glide; to pass; -- usually followed by into. Cheyne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. illapsus. See Illapse, v. i. ] A gliding in; an immisson or entrance of one thing into another; also, a sudden descent or attack. Akenside. [ 1913 Webster ]

They sit silent . . . waiting for an illapse of the spirit. Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]