🤒 Not healthy ☠️ Harmful or bad 🚨 Problems or troubles 😠 Unfriendly feelings ⚠️ Badly or with trouble 🤒 An illness 😎 Very cool

ill

7 9.8

Very good or impressive in a cool way

adjective
/ɪl/

Slang

: genial

That's so ill!

He singing the lyrics, he doing the ad libs, the talking is ill.

Examples

You are so ill.

Edge of Seventeen (1999)
It's gonna be ill.

Beat the World (2011)
"When something is 'ill,' it is even better than 'sick.'

Academic text (2015)
The game is ill and those are some quotes.
You like that wind up hit that beat, that ill nasty beat.
Tyler, it was really ill.

Cougar Hunting (2011)
Sick, phat, ill.

Chalet Girl (2011)
Man, you're ill.

A Man for All Seasons (1966)
That new skateboard trick was so ill that everyone tried to learn it.
She has an ill sense of style that always gets her compliments.

Synonyms

not bad

vsill

Informal

938 3.0

Better than expected and quite good

is stronger slang praise expressing clear high admiration

sick

vsill

Slang

196 8.7

Very impressive or exciting

is similar but used more generally as slang praise

swell

vsill

Archaic

98 7.3

Very good and enjoyable

is modern slang praise used more in casual youthful speech

mean

vsill

Slang

71 7.5

Very good and impressive at a skill

is praise focused more on coolness and impressiveness than pure quality

keen

vsill

12 6.9

Very good and impressive

is more slangy and centers on being impressively cool rather than just liking

lit

vsill

Slang

10 8.6

Having a lot of fun and excitement, often about parties or events

is used more broadly to praise coolness beyond lively events

Antonyms

bad

∞ 1.0

Not good in quality or below the usual standard

lame

Offensive

402 6.8

Weak and not convincing, often given as an excuse

Idioms

ill at ease

7 5.5

Feeling uncomfortable or nervous around other people

Compounds

mentally ill

Vulgar

87 3.4

Having a serious problem with thinking, feeling, or behaving because of a brain condition

ill will

20 5.3

A strong feeling of dislike or anger toward someone

ill health

8 3.0

Being sick or having a long-term problem with your body

ill luck

7 3.8

Bad things that happen to someone by chance

ill temper

5 4.6

A bad mood that makes someone easily angry

ill repute

4 7.5

A condition where people think badly of someone

ill-treatment

NSFW

3 6.4

Cruel treatment of a person or animal, often over a long time

house of ill repute

NSFW

2 8.9

A place where people pay to have sex

ill humor

2 6.8

A bad mood when someone is angry or easily annoyed

ill service

2 8.3

An act of help that does harm rather than good

ill-breeding

Offensive

1 9.8

Rude behavior that shows poor manners because someone was raised badly

woman of ill repute

Offensive

1 9.0

A woman who people think badly of because of her sex life

ill nature

1 7.7

A habit of being angry and unpleasant to others

house of ill fame

NSFW

1 9.9

A place where people pay for sex, often seen as wrong

ill fame

1 8.1

Being widely known for something bad

ill turn

1 8.1

An action meant to help that causes harm or trouble

ill-usage

NSFW

1 9.9

Cruel treatment of people or animals

louping ill

9.9

A serious sickness of sheep caused by a virus spread by ticks that affects their brain and nerves

woman of ill fame

Offensive

9.8

A woman known for having a bad reputation because of her sexual life

How Cool

amazing

∞ 1.0

ill

Slang

7 9.8

good

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

ill positive

worse comparative

worst superlative

Etymology

A helpful way to remember the slang use of ill meaning 'very good' is to know it is a modern twist: speakers turned the old 'bad' into a cool compliment, especially in music and youth talk. So in slang ill can mean 'great' even though its old meaning was 'bad'.