What's the difference between ill and sick?

Question

dont tell me the same coz i know its not the same there is a difference

Answer 1

Wow, it is scary what some people are writing here. The background behind both words (which actually DO mean the exact same thing!!) is a historical one:

the english language is very young, less then 1000 years old. For a language, that is like new.

The british Island has been invaded by several european peoples, but not at the same time. Each time there were like 500 years in between, so the languages of the invaders had time to spread and develop.

"sick" is a saxon word
(to this very day the dutch word is siek, the local northwest-german word is siech).

"ill" is a skandinavian word, it means "bad" and also "sick". The word came with the Normans to Britain, about 500 years after the Saxons had taken the island.

The fact that people nowadays are using the 2 words differently has nothing to do with the history, and in my opinion that does not matter at all. It is not important why an American chooses to describe this unwellness with "sickness" and another one with "illness".
These suggestions only prove the lack of knowledge. People don't know why they have various words for the same thing, so they are trying to make some reasons up.

Actually, "mal" is the same french word! You are using it in different context, but originally "mal" means the same as "sick" ad "ill". It's just another language, again.

Answer 2

I don’t see anyone describing how I use it so I guess there’s a strong regional element to it. It depends on your location as to what the difference is. For example, I’m from the American South and these words are totally different here.

Most of us say "sick" to mean you are unwell- like a cold, flu, virus, etc. It wouldn’t automatically suggest a person is nauseous like some parts of Britain seem to. If someone is nauseous here we would just say they are sick (to/at) their stomach although you could just say they are sick and leave it at that.

If someone is ill, it means "in a bad mood", i.e. "be careful around Mary because she's ill today" - that sort of thing. “Ill” and “sick” would not normally be the same thing here at all however if someone seemed to use “ill” to suggest they were actually sick instead of moody we would catch on. For example, if someone said that a certain individual is in the hospital and was very ill (instead of sick) we would generally understand what they meant unless their mood came up in the conversation- and then we would assume it’s still moody.

I *think* this is pretty typical throughout the U.S. - but not sure?

Answer 3

Ill is more professional. Sick usually describes a very light illness, while ill can be a matter of life. Sick can also describe people who pick stuff off the ground and eat it, etc...stuff that makes you ill. And, of course, there is the spelling...

Answer 4

You need to know a little bit about the history of the words. Basically, "sick" has used to mean unwell for longer than "ill". The word "ill" originally just meant "bad", as it sometimes still does ("an ill-conceived idea", "an ill wind"). But then, in the nineteenth century, it seems that the word "sick" in Britain came to be used as a euphemism for "vomit", which was perceived as too graphic a word. So "to be sick" was now ambiguous: it could mean being unwell or it could mean vomiting. Therefore, "ill" came to replace it in the first sense.

The same change didn't occur in the US, where "sick" is still very commonly used to mean unwell. It still has that meaning in the UK too, but "ill" remains common.

So there's your answer: both words can mean "unwell", but "sick" is more common in that sense in the US. Still, Americans will still sometimes say they're ill, and Brits will still sometimes say they're sick. You can consider them to be more or less synonyms: just bear in mind that "I was sick" can be quite ambiguous to British ears.

Answer 5

These are very similar words. To me, ill is usually more severe than sick. Those who are ill have an illness. I do not consider those with a common cold to be ill, but only sick.

Answer 6

ill is often used to mean "unwell" in British English( in American English ill is unusual except in a formal style0 . ill is most common in predicative position9after a verb).
''George didnt come in last week because he was ill .'
In attributive position (before a noun ) many British people prefer to use sick. Sick is also the normal informal American word for unwell.
be sick can mean 'vomit'.

Answer 7

Usually in the UK, sick = vomiting and ill = unwell.
In the US, they use 'sick' meaning ill = unwell

Answer 8

Ill definition: Not healthy; sick.

Sick definition: Suffering from or affected with a physical illness; ailing.

Answer 9

to me ill is when its more fatal and sick is when u have like a little cold

Answer 10

ill sounds to me more like some kind of mental problem, and sick sounds like someone vomitting