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ilk

ilk

37 8.6
A kind of person or thing often seen as bad
  • noun
  • /ɪlk/
: 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

like
vsilk
261 5.7

A person or thing of the same kind

is similar but usually adds a negative or disapproving tone
the likes of
vsilk
143 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

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.