ill

[ɪl]

/[ɪl]/ adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“ill” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #25,175) as an adverb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#25,175
frequency rank, German
1,488
“I” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - schlecht, falsch

Corpus desk

Index DE-ill · ill · German

ill · rank #25,175 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,175
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,488
  • PHOTO-FINISH idealer

Nearest frequency peer: idealer (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „ill“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „ill“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ill vs im
33% similar
ill vs is
33% similar
ill vs IT
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ill
PropertyValue
Headwordill
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[ɪl]
Letters3
Frequency rank#25,175
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „ill“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).illliegt auf dieser Marke:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „idealer“ (#25,174), „Illinois“ (#25,176), „Hörsaal“ (#25,173). Unter 1,488 „I“-Lemmata liegt „ill“ bei #25,175. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ill is neighbouring look-alikes ("im", "is", …), not just typos; it is anadverb pronounced [ɪl]. Frequency #25,175 among 1,488 “I” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for ill, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "im", "is", "IT", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is ill, spelled I-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    schlecht, falsch
  2. 2
    unvorteilhaft
  3. 3
    nur mit Schwierigkeit, knapp, geradeso

Synonyms

badlynot wellpoorlyunfortunately

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ill"?
"ill" is spelled I-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ɪl].
What does "ill" mean?
As an adverb, "ill" means: schlecht, falsch
What words are commonly confused with "ill"?
"ill" is commonly confused with "im", "is", "IT". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ill"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ill" is [ɪl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ill" come from?
"ill" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ill", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

EWG#25,123ETF#25,120MEZ#25,234eat#25,099

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list