ilk
1 Americannoun
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family, class, or kind.
he and all his ilk.
adjective
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same.
idioms
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of that ilk,
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(in Scotland) of the same family name or place.
Ross of that ilk, i.e., Ross of Ross.
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of the same class or kind.
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noun
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a type; class; sort (esp in the phrase of that, his, her, etc, ilk )
people of that ilk should not be allowed here
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of the place of the same name: used to indicate that the person named is proprietor or laird of the place named
Moncrieff of that ilk
determiner
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each; every
Usage
Although the use of ilk in the sense of sense 1 is sometimes condemned as being the result of a misunderstanding of the original Scottish expression of that ilk , it is nevertheless well established and generally acceptable
Etymology
Origin of ilk1
before 900; Middle English ilke, Old English ilca (pronoun) the same, equivalent to demonstrative i (cognate with Gothic is he, Latin is that) + a reduced form of līc like 1; which, such
Origin of ilk2
before 900; Middle English ilk, north variant of ilch, Old English ylc (pronoun) each
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To them, “House of David” and its ilk may not be the greatest stories ever told, but they can be as gripping as most legends.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was in the ilk of the reformists.
From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026
Oliveros’ deep listening and that of other composers of her environmental ilk, particularly the atmospherically ethereal sound worlds of Annea Lockwood, were made for Ojai.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025
Netflix and its ilk once disdained ads as well as sports and other live-action programming; now they’re buying with both hands because such programming synergizes particularly well with advertising.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025
Not Dr. Strayer, certainly not Dr. Gazzaley, or any others of his ilk.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.