ill

ill
   1. menstrual
   Common female usage:
    'When were you ill last?' 'About a fortnight ago,' she replied. (F. Harris, 1925)
    Mrs Pepys was ill of those: Thence home and my wife ill of those upon the maid's bed. (Pepys, 1669)
   2.
   suffering from a taboo disease
   Either a venereal disease or AIDS:
    The poor girl may not even have known she was ill. (F. Harris, 1925 — a prostitute had syphilis)
    'How can you be sure that Etienne knew Eric was ill?' '... you do love euphemisms, don't you?' (P. D. James, 1994 — Eric was infected with the AIDS virus)
   3. drunk
   The symptoms of drunkenness can be identical with those of various illnesses:
    'Roddy felt ill.' 'Ill,' said Jerry. 'Drunk, you mean.' (Deighton, 1988)
   4. mentally unwell
   Now probably obsolete, with our better understanding of mental sickness. Also as illadjusted:
    She had some art treasures which she heaped upon me when she was what we will politely call 'ill', but claimed back again the moment she was well. (Coren, 1995, quoting Dr Conan Doyle writing about a patient)
    We aren't here to provide a haven for the ill-adjusted. (Bradbury, 1959)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • Ill — Ill, 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] Note: Ill, like above, well,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ill — ([i^]l), a. [The regular comparative and superlative are wanting, their places being supplied by worseand 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;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ill — ill, sick Ill and sick share responsibilities in peculiar ways, and are not always interchangeable. To begin with, ill is more usually predicative (placed after a verb, as in She was ill), whereas sick occurs naturally in attributive position… …   Modern English usage

  • ILL — (in der Schriftart „Courier“: Ill) ist der Name verschiedener Flüsse: die rechtsrheinische Ill, siehe Ill (Vorarlberg) die linksrheinische Ill, siehe Ill (Elsass) den Bach Ill, siehe Ill (Saarland) Ill ist: ein Begriff in der Hip Hop Kultur siehe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ill — ill1 [il] adj. worse, worst [ME < ON illr (replacing OE yfel, evil, in many senses): prob. < Gmc * ilhila < IE base * elk , hungry, bad > OIr elc, bad] 1. characterized by, causing, or tending to cause harm or evil; specif., a)… …   English World dictionary

  • Ill — (Ill) heißen: Ill (Vorarlberg), rechtsrheinischer Fluss in Vorarlberg Ill (Elsass), linksrheinischer Fluss im Frankreich Ill (Saarland), Bach im Saarland Ill ist der Name folgender Personen: Alfred Ill, Romanfigur, Protagonist der tragischen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ILL — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. {{{image}}}   Sigles d une seule lettre   Sigles de deux lettres > Sigles de trois lettres …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ill. — ill. 〈in bibliograf. Angaben Abk. für〉 illustriert * * * ill. = illustriert. * * * Ill.,   Abkürzung für den Bundesstaat Illinois, USA.   * * * ill. = illustriert …   Universal-Lexikon

  • ill — [adj1] sick afflicted, ailing, a wreck*, below par*, bummed*, diseased, down, down with, feeling awful, feeling rotten, feeling terrible, got the bug*, indisposed, infirm, laid low*, off one’s feet*, on sick list*, out of sorts*, peaked, poorly,… …   New thesaurus

  • ill — ► ADJECTIVE 1) not in full health; unwell. 2) poor in quality. 3) harmful, hostile, or unfavourable. ► ADVERB 1) badly, wrongly, or imperfectly: ill chosen. 2) only with difficulty. ► NOUN …   English terms dictionary

  • Ill — Ill, 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.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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