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ilk

ilk

42 8.6
A kind of person or thing often seen as bad
  • noun
  • /ɪlk/
translation icon : calaña
  • "Mystery meat" and its ilk are no longer good enough.
  • others of that ilk

That's what Elon Musk and his ilk do all the time.

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Examples

  • "That's the problem with people of your ilk," Esteban said.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • In the old days, I specifically told people of your ilk to buy their own drinks.

  • But maybe he and his ilk feel otherwise.

  • Men of their ilk were not prepared to take no for an answer.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The New Morality and their ilk have a pretty tight grip on the news media.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • As you know, gazakov and his ilk are bad people.

  • In the past 10 years, other institutions of our ilk have chosen to liberalize their curriculum.

  • The Lays and their ilk have made no gesture to the thousands of people they damaged.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Most people, you know, don't go around looking for opportunities to strike up conversations with total strangers about life and death and religion and things of that ilk.

  • People of my ilk often face criticism for their unconventional views.

Synonyms

the likes of
vsilk
110 6.4

People and things that are like someone and that people often mention to show surprise or dislike

is a general term for type often used with disapproval
like
vsilk
89 5.7

A person or thing of the same kind

is similar but usually adds a negative or disapproving tone

Surface Forms

ilk singular
ilks plural

Etymology

The word ilk comes from an old word meaning 'the same', so it refers to a 'type' or 'kind' of person or thing. A helpful way to remember it is to think of ilk like 'like' — when people say 'of that ilk' they mean 'of that same kind', often with a disapproving tone.