ill-being

noun

"ill-being" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ill-being” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being ill, unhealthy, or unhappy; misery; miserableness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ill-being · ill-being · English

ill-being · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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.

Key facts for ill-being
PropertyValue
Headwordill-being
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ill-being” in English

ill-beingfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ill-being is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for ill-being in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From ill + being. Compare well-being. The correct English form is ill-being, spelled I-L-L---B-E-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being ill, unhealthy, or unhappy; misery; miserableness.
  2. 2
    Lack of prosperity, happiness, or health.

Etymology

From ill + being. Compare well-being.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ill-being"?
"ill-being" is spelled I-L-L---B-E-I-N-G.
What does "ill-being" mean?
As a noun, "ill-being" means: The state of being ill, unhealthy, or unhappy; misery; miserableness.
What is the origin of the word "ill-being"?
From ill + being. Compare well-being. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list