What does ilk mean?
The noun “ilk” means a kind, sort, or class, particularly a class of people viewed with suspicion or contempt. Its best-known use is in the phrase “of that ilk,” as in “I distrust politicians of that ilk.” Because the expression often carries a dismissive or morally disapproving tone, it can suggest that a whole category shares objectionable characteristics. Although the word once had the more general sense of “kind” or “description,” it is now chiefly encountered in this fixed expression and in closely related phrases such as “of his ilk” and “of her ilk.” Its phrasing has a formal, old-fashioned quality, giving it more rhetorical force than the plainer words “kind” or “type.” Although unusual in everyday conversation, it remains useful when the speaker wants to characterize a category as a whole while subtly signalling disapproval or skepticism.
A kind, sort, or class of people or things, especially one regarded with contempt or disapproval.
"The newspaper campaigned against the sort of sensationalism that passes for journalism of that ilk."
Usually appears in the expression “of that ilk” or a similar fixed phrase.
The same kind or description.
"The second proposal was the same ilk of arrangement as the first."
This sense is archaic or literary and is now uncommon.
The plural is uncommon; the modern word is normally used in fixed expressions with a singular determiner, especially in “of that ilk.”
"The argument distinguished several literary ilks from the main tradition."
Today this once-general word survives mainly in the sharply dismissive phrase “of that ilk.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ilk come from?
The word comes from Old English ilca, meaning “the same” or “of the same kind,” and developed through Middle English into its modern noun sense. It ultimately derives from Proto-Germanic *ilka- and is related to a Proto-Indo-European demonstrative root meaning “this.” The form has parallels in Scandinavian languages and in Latin pronouns such as ille and iste.
How ilk is actually used
Modern usage is mainly confined to the expression “of that ilk,” where it sounds formal, traditional, and often disparaging. The older sense “the same kind” is literary or archaic.