The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ill \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.]
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Contrary to good, in a physical sense; contrary or opposed to advantage, happiness, etc.; bad; evil; unfortunate; disagreeable; unfavorable.
Neither is it ill air only that maketh an ill seat, but ill ways, ill markets, and ill neighbors.
--Bacon.There 's some ill planet reigns.
--Shak. -
Contrary to good, in a moral sense; evil; wicked; wrong; iniquitious; naughtly; bad; improper.
Of his own body he was ill, and gave The clergy ill example.
--Shak. -
Sick; indisposed; unwell; diseased; disordered; as, ill of a fever.
I am in health, I breathe, and see thee ill.
--Shak. -
Not according with rule, fitness, or propriety; incorrect; rude; unpolished; inelegant. That 's an ill phrase. --Shak. Ill at ease, uneasy; uncomfortable; anxious. ``I am very ill at ease.'' --Shak. Ill blood, enmity; resentment; bad blood. Ill breeding, lack of good breeding; rudeness. Ill fame, ill or bad repute; as, a house of ill fame, a house where lewd persons meet for illicit intercourse. Ill humor, a disagreeable mood; bad temper. Ill nature, bad disposition or temperament; sullenness; esp., a disposition to cause unhappiness to others. Ill temper, anger; moroseness; crossness. Ill turn.
An unkind act.
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A slight attack of illness. [Colloq. U.S.] -- Ill will, unkindness; enmity; malevolence.
Syn: Bad; evil; wrong; wicked; sick; unwell.
Wiktionary
n. disrepute; notoriety
WordNet
n. the state of being known for some unfavorable act or quality [syn: notoriety]
Usage examples of "ill fame".
In Akron, Ohio, in 1918, a racketeer named Rosario Borgio became so incensed when the police kept raiding his houses of ill fame that he called a meeting of gangsters and announced that he would pay $250 for every policeman who was murdered, the aim being to eliminate the entire Akron police force.
Grogshops and houses of ill fame lined streets so narrow that daylight's cleansing beams, I was certain, never penetrated to the floors of their canyons to dry the slime and muck of the night's commerce in depravity.