How to Use ill at ease in a Sentence

ill at ease

adjective
Definition of ill at easenext
Synonyms for ill at easenext
  • He seemed ill at ease when we spoke with him.
  • I'm usually ill at ease when addressing a large crowd of people.
  • For one thing, all four kids–three of them adults now–feel ill at ease in the world.
    — Daniel D'addario, Time, 8 Feb. 2018
  • Who told you you had a right never to be made ill at ease?
    — Leonard Pitts, Alaska Dispatch News, 19 Oct. 2017
  • The locker room is one of those places where many people feel ill at ease.
    — Christen A. Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 21 May 2018
  • For most of his time as a Tour star, Watson has seemed ill at ease, in public, over the ball and in his own skin.
    — Eamon Lynch, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2021
  • Heaney would not have been ill at ease in these environs.
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 20 June 2020
  • Since then, the reporters have been ill at ease, too, and worried about their phones being tapped.
    — New York Times, 13 May 2022
  • Over and over, And Just Like That demonstrates how ill at ease its characters are in 2021.
    — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2021
  • There’s the one in Lincoln Heights, who does not want to be caged in her apartment and yet feels ill at ease outside of it.
    — Brittny Mejia, www.latimes.com, 6 Apr. 2018
  • Beck was ill at ease, her English choppy once the camera began rolling.
    — Mayukh Sen, The Atlantic, 16 Nov. 2021
  • Today there is a rare self-confidence about the U.K. that seems oddly ill at ease with the Brexit panic.
    — Gerard Baker, WSJ, 17 May 2019
  • Yet Iñárritu’s grand designs, even at their most morally fervent, leave you ill at ease.
    — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2022
  • In the wake of a pandemic and racial and political strife, the broader culture also seems ill at ease.
    — Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Sep. 2021
  • Criss seems ill at ease in the role of the simple-minded junior partner in the scheme, to the degree that the character feels increasingly out of place.
    — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 14 Apr. 2022
  • Something that shocks or fuels dissension can put you and others ill at ease.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive.com, 5 June 2019
  • Memoir often proves the salvation of people who feel ill at ease in their bodies.
    — Katy Waldman, Slate Magazine, 26 June 2017
  • Steinbeck’s was a soul profoundly ill at ease with itself: The ability to take praise as well as blame in his stride eluded him throughout the years.
    — Vivian Gornick, The New Republic, 9 Oct. 2020
  • Compared with the bachelor, Mr. Barthelat, who was wearing a white oxford shirt and gray V-neck sweater, was noticeably ill at ease in front of the camera.
    — Tina Isaac-GoizÉ, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2017
  • The Swede and Ivorian looked ill at ease with each other as Brighton’s quick attackers constantly caused problems and got behind them.
    — Sam Pilger, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2021
  • Now, Reagan, in turn, was trying to push human rights violations by the Russians, to sort of put Gorbachev a little bit ill at ease.
    — Fox News, 12 June 2018
  • To his moral credit, Levy often seems as ill at ease with luxury as with the prospect of a night walk through the rainforest or getting into a helicopter.
    — Robert Lloydtelevision Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2023
  • Quinones is ill at ease doing the romantic scenes and reading the hokey dialogue, but the street kids around him play themselves naturally.
    — Patrick Friel, Chicago Reader, 10 July 2018
  • With their stiff manners and unsuitable clothing, Diego and the rest of the colonialists seem perpetually ill at ease.
    — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2018
  • But then there’s Izzy – uncomplacent, ill at ease, thinking deeply about plenty of things other than herself.
    — The Washington Post, The Mercury News, 21 June 2019
  • But then there’s Izzy — uncomplacent, ill at ease, thinking deeply about plenty of things other than herself.
    — Washington Post, 17 June 2019
  • The lawsuits portray Yao as presiding over a museum rife with comments and actions that made women ill at ease.
    — Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2023
  • Certainly Tony Yazbeck’s Grant seems ill at ease, even apologetic, throughout.
    — Helen Shaw, Vulture, 13 Dec. 2021
  • In the Amazing Grace documentary that was recently unearthed, the real-life footage of Aretha looking ill at ease as her father takes over the podium for a speech now makes more sense.
    — David Browne, Rolling Stone, 15 Mar. 2021
  • Still, many people are intimidated at the thought of going to a truly fine dining restaurant in fear that they may be made to feel ill at ease and discomfited.
    — John Mariani, Forbes, 10 May 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ill at ease.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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