Definition of "ill"

St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it.

1709 December 6, Francis Atterbury, A Sermon Preached before the Sons of the Clergy, at their Anniversary-Meeting, in the Church of St. Paul

A man who is conscious of having an ill character, cannot justly be angry with those who neglect and slight him.

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […]

‘Go bring her. It is ill to keep a lady waiting.’

1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 2

[…] his lordship was out of humour. That was the way Chollacombe described as knaggy an old gager as ever Charles had had the ill-fortune to serve. Stiff-rumped, that's what he was, always rubbing the rust, or riding grub, like he had been for months past.

1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax

Biggie Smalls is the illest / Your style is played out, like Arnold wonderin "Whatchu talkin bout, Willis?"

1994, Biggie Smalls (lyrics and music), “The What”

Oh that when the devil and flesh entice the sinner to sport with and make a mock of sin, Prov. x. 23, he would but consider, it is ill jesting with edged tools, it is ill jesting with unquenchable burnings; […]

1672, George Swinnock, The Incomparableness of God

They arrested everybody—and it is ill to resist a drunken Tommy with a loaded rifle!

1914, Indian Ink, volume 1, page 32

He would have conversed as usual; but his attempts were so ill seconded, that he was fain to take refuge in the letters that lay beside him.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Proposal of Marriage”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 126

Within, I found it, as I had expected, transcendently dismal. The slowly changing shadows waved on it from the heavy trees, were doleful in the last degree; the house was ill-placed, ill-built, ill-planned, and ill-fitted.

1859 December 13, Charles Dickens [et al.], “(please specify the name of the story)”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Haunted House. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round […], volume II, London: […] C. Whiting, […]

In both groups, however, we find copious and intricate speciation so that, often, species limits are narrow and ill defined.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, page 3

His inflexibility and blindness ill become a leader, for a leader must temper justice with mercy.

1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus, published 2010, page 541

Is it because this supposes an undifferentiated violence towards others and oneself that I could ill imagine in a woman?

2006, Julia Borossa (translator), Monique Canto-Sperber (quoted author), in Libération, 2002 February 2, quoted in Élisabeth Badinter (quoting author), Dead End Feminism, Polity, page 40

That makes us rather bear those ills we have / Than fly to others that we know not of.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i]

Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.

1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients

Loue worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore loue is the fulfilling of the Law.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Romans 13:10

Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still, / Exerts itself, and then throws off the ill.

1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, (please specify the page number)

D.M.C.: You been illin' lately.Run: So, I'm illin'. Am I illin'? Chillin'! You know what I'm sayin'? Chillin'.

1985, Ralph Farquhar, Krush Groove