Entry · catalog no. 7006
ill
/ /ɪl/ /IL
adjective · New York City · 1980s
✓ Verified
1.
Outstanding, impressive, formidable — high praise. Also, in a related sense, wild or out of control.
“That verse was ill — he did not miss a syllable.”
Origin & Attribution
New York hip-hop, early-to-mid 1980s, where ill was turned inside out from its plain meaning of sick to become a top compliment — the same reversal that later gave sick, wicked, and bad their approving senses. In circulation by 1986, when Run-DMC recorded You Be Illin and the Beastie Boys titled their debut Licensed to Ill.
early 1980s
Circulates in New York hip-hop
1986
Run-DMC You Be Illin; Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The Northeast
New York City · 1980s
Spoken by
New York hip-hop community
$ILLThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady41 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
72/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1985
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@bxgriot
The Bronx, NY
@phillyanne
Philadelphia, PA
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Run-DMC, You Be Illin (Raising Hell)
1986
■
+ Cite a sourceBeastie Boys, Licensed to Ill
1986
See also