noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ɪlθ/
rhymes with -ɪlθ
1
noun
Meaning 1
The opposite of wealth; that which, by its possession, causes damage of some kind.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From ill + -th (abstract nominal suffix), coined by John Ruskin as an opposite for wealth, in the sense of ill being the opposite of well.