Standard Lemma guide

unwell

adj · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ʌnˈwɛl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛl
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 N W EH1 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not in good health; not feeling well; somewhat ill

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • feel unwell

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ailing, under the weather, diseased, disease-ridden, infect, infected, morbid, morbific, morbose, unhealthy

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Specifically, ill from menstruation; affected with, or having, catamenial; menstruant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, euphemistic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

somewhat ill or prone to illness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • my poor ailing grandmother
  • feeling a bit indisposed today
  • you look a little peaked
  • feeling poorly
  • a sickly child
  • is unwell and can't come to work

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ailing, indisposed, peaked(p), poorly(p), sickly, under the weather, seedy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English well English unwell From un- + well.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: naxoş — not well
  • Bulgarian: неразположен (nerazpoložen) — not well
  • Bulgarian: болнав (bolnav) — not well
  • Chinese Cantonese: 唔舒服 (m4 syu1 fuk6) — not well
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不舒服 (bùshūfu) — not well
  • Danish: småsyg — not well
  • Dutch: onwel — not well
  • Finnish: sairas — not well
  • Finnish: huonovointinen — not well
  • French: indisposé — not well
  • French: souffrant — not well
  • French: malade — not well
  • French: qui ne se sent pas bien — not well
  • Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (unhails) — not well
  • Hungarian: rosszul — not well
  • Italian: indisposto — not well
  • Manx: lhaglayntagh — not well
  • Manx: çhing — not well
  • Manx: aslayntagh — not well
  • Manx: doghanagh — not well
  • Māori: ngātoro — not well
  • Norwegian Bokmål: uvel — not well
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: uvel — not well
  • Polish: niezdrowy — not well
  • Russian: нездоро́вый (nezdoróvyj) — not well
  • Spanish: indispuesto — not well
  • Spanish: hasta el queque — not well
  • Spanish: mal — not well
  • Spanish: enfermo — not well
  • Spanish: que no se encuentra bien — not well
  • Swedish: krasslig — not well
  • Ottoman Turkish: خسته — not well
  • Woiwurrung: nillamturrong — not well