- (especially British English) (North American English usually sick)[not usually before noun] suffering from an illness or disease; not feeling well
- Her father is seriously ill in St Luke's hospital.
- critically/gravely/severely ill
- Uncle Harry is terminally ill with cancer (= he will die from his illness).
- chronically ill patients (= who are ill for a long time )
- She was taken ill suddenly.
- We both started to feel ill shortly after the meal.
- veterans who became ill after fighting in the Gulf War
- Shortly after drinking the water I was violently ill.
- (formal) He fell ill and died soon after.
- I can't eat bananas as they make me ill.
- ill with something He'd been ill with cancer for months.
Collocations IllnessesIllnessesBecoming illsee also illness- catch a cold/an infectious disease/the flu/(British English) flu/pneumonia/a virus/(informal) a bug
- get (British English) ill/(North American English) sick/a disease/AIDS/breast cancer/a cold/the flu/(British English) flu/a migraine
- come down with a cold/the flu/(British English) flu
- contract a deadly disease/a serious illness/HIV/AIDS
- be infected with a virus/a parasite/HIV
- develop cancer/diabetes/a rash/an ulcer/symptoms of hepatitis
- have a heart attack/a stroke
- provoke/trigger/produce an allergic reaction
- block/burst/rupture a blood vessel
- damage/sever a nerve/an artery/a tendon
- feel (British English) ill/nauseous/queasy
- be running (British English) a temperature/(North American English) a fever
- have a head cold/diabetes/heart disease/lung cancer/a headache/(British English) a high temperature/(North American English) a fever
- suffer from asthma/malnutrition/frequent headaches/nausea/bouts of depression/post-traumatic stress disorder
- be laid up with/ (British English) be in bed with a cold/the flu/(British English) flu/a migraine
- nurse a cold/a headache/a hangover
- battle/fight cancer/depression/addiction/alcoholism
- examine a patient
- diagnose a condition/disease/disorder
- be diagnosed with cancer/diabetes/schizophrenia
- prescribe/be given/be on/take drugs/medicine/medication/pills/painkillers/antibiotics
- treat somebody for cancer/depression/shock
- have/undergo an examination/an operation/surgery/a kidney transplant/therapy/chemotherapy/treatment for cancer
- have/be given an injection/(British English) a flu jab/(North American English) a flu shot/a blood transfusion/a scan/an X-ray
- cure a disease/an ailment/cancer/a headache/a patient
- prevent the spread of disease/further outbreaks/damage to the lungs
- be vaccinated against the flu/(British English) flu/the measles/(British English) measles/polio/smallpox
- enhance/boost/confer/build immunity to a disease
Extra ExamplesTopics Health problemsa2- He was lying ill in bed.
- They arrive at the hospital ill from malnutrition.
- Robyn was almost ill with excitement and outrage.
- (figurative) That type of government corruption makes me ill.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- appear
- be
- feel
- …
- critically
- dangerously
- desperately
- …
- with
- from
Definitions on the go
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- [only before noun] bad or harmful
- She suffered no ill effects from the experience.
- (old-fashioned) a house of ill repute (= with a bad reputation, especially because behaviour that is not considered moral happens there)
- (formal) that brings, or is thought to bring, bad luck
- a bird of ill omen
Word OriginMiddle English (in the senses ‘wicked’, ‘malevolent’, ‘harmful’, and ‘difficult’): from Old Norse illr ‘evil, difficult’, of unknown origin.
Idioms
See ill in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee ill in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbad/ill feeling
(also bad/ill feelings especially in North American English)
- anger between people, especially after an argument
- There was a lot of bad feeling between the two groups of students.
- I don't want any bad feelings between us.
ill at ease
- feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed
- I felt ill at ease in such formal clothes.
ill/bad feeling
(also ill/bad feelings especially in North American English)
- anger between people, especially after an argument
- There was a lot of ill feeling between the two groups of students.
- I don't want any ill feelings between us.
it’s an ill wind (that blows nobody any good)
- (saying) no problem is so bad that it does not bring some advantage to somebody
Check pronunciation:
ill