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Epidemic vs Ill - What's the difference?

epidemic | ill |

As nouns the difference between epidemic and ill

is that epidemic is a widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population while ill is (often pluralized) trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.

As adjectives the difference between epidemic and ill

is that epidemic is like or having to do with an epidemic; widespread while ill is (label) evil; wicked (of people).

As an adverb ill is

not well; imperfectly, badly; hardly.

epidemic

English

(wikipedia epidemic)

Alternative forms

* epidemick (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population.
  • (epidemiology) An occurrence of a disease or disorder in a population at a frequency higher than that expected in a given time period.

    • Antonyms

    * endemic

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Like or having to do with an epidemic; widespread
    • Epidemic hysteria occurred upon the incumbent’s reelection.
  • * 2003 , James C. Howell, Preventing & Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Comprehensive Framework , SAGE Publications, ISBN 978-0-7619-2509-5, page 19:
    • This proportion increased about 5% from 1988 to 1992—hardly a change of epidemic proportions.

    Antonyms

    * endemic

    Related terms

    * pandemic

    See also

    * epizootic * enzootic

    Anagrams

    *

    ill

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (label) Evil; wicked (of people).
  • * (Francis Atterbury) (1663-1732)
    • St. Paul chose to magnify his office when ill men conspired to lessen it.
  • (label) Morally reprehensible (of behaviour etc.); blameworthy.
  • * 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 2:
    • ‘Go bring her. It is ill to keep a lady waiting.’
  • Indicative of unkind or malevolent intentions; harsh, cruel.
  • Unpropitious, unkind, faulty, not up to reasonable standard.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
    • , passage=
  • Unwell in terms of health or physical condition; sick.
  • Having an urge to vomit.
  • (label) Sublime, with the connotation of being so in a singularly creative way. [This sense sometimes declines in AAVE as ill', ''comparative'' '''iller''', ''superlative'' ' illest .]
  • * 1994 , Biggie Smalls, The What
    • Biggie Smalls is the illest / Your style is played out, like Arnold wonderin "Whatchu talkin bout, Willis?"
  • (label) Extremely bad (bad enough to make one ill). Generally used indirectly with to be .

    • Usage notes

    * The comparative forms iller and illest are used in American English, but less than one fourth as frequently as the "more" and "most" forms.

    Synonyms

    * (suffering from a disease''): diseased, poorly (''UK ), sick, under the weather (informal), unwell * (having an urge to vomit ): disgusted, nauseated, nauseous, sick, sickened * (bad ): bad, mal- * (in hip-hop slang: sublime ): dope * See also

    Antonyms

    * (suffering from a disease ): fine, hale, healthy, in good health, well * (having an urge to vomit ): * (bad ): good * (in hip-hop slang: sublime ): wack

    Derived terms

    * be ill * fall ill * ill at ease * ill effects * illness * ill wind * lie ill in one's mouth * mentally ill * be taken ill

    References

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Not well; imperfectly, badly; hardly.
  • *
    • In both groups, however, we find copious and intricate speciation so that, often, species limits are narrow and ill defined.
  • * 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 541:
    • His inflexibility and blindness ill become a leader, for a leader must temper justice with mercy.
  • * 2006 , Julia Borossa (translator), Monique Canto-Sperber (quoted author), in (quoting author), ''Dead End Feminism , Polity, ISBN 9780745633800, page 40:
    • Is it because this supposes an undifferentiated violence towards others and oneself that I could ill imagine in a woman?

    Synonyms

    * illy

    Antonyms

    * well

    Derived terms

    * bode ill * ill afford * ill-formed * ill-gotten * ill-thought-out

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (often pluralized) Trouble; distress; misfortune; adversity.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • That makes us rather bear those ills we have / Than fly to others that we know not of.
  • * , chapter=4
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.}}
  • Harm or injury.
  • Evil; moral wrongfulness.
  • * (John Dryden)
    • Strong virtue, like strong nature, struggles still, / Exerts itself, and then throws off the ill .
  • A physical ailment; an illness.
  • Unfavorable remarks or opinions.
  • (US, slang) PCP, phencyclidine.

    • Derived terms

    * for good or ill

    References

    * Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd ed., 1989. * Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary , 1987-1996.

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

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