ill afford
idiom
: to be unable to afford : to be unable to do (something) without having problems or being seriously harmed
She bought a new car, which she could ill afford.
We can ill afford more bad publicity.
Examples of ill afford in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Modi can ill afford to take India to the point of no return and a full-scale armed conflict with China.
—
Praveen Donthi, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2024
And the president can also ill afford to risk alienating moderate and independent swing voters in battleground states, who may be more likely to back the Jewish state.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 6 Apr. 2024
Boeing has reportedly had to eat $1.5 billion in Starliner cost overruns and can ill afford a failure, especially after two crashes of its 737 Max 8 jets and the blowout of a door plug during a 737 Max 9 flight this year to Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2024
Opponents called the legislation unconstitutional and would lead to racial profiling, separating children from parents and incur several millions of dollars in additional policing costs that the state can ill afford.
—CBS News, 4 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for ill afford 
Praveen Donthi, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2024
And the president can also ill afford to risk alienating moderate and independent swing voters in battleground states, who may be more likely to back the Jewish state.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 6 Apr. 2024
Boeing has reportedly had to eat $1.5 billion in Starliner cost overruns and can ill afford a failure, especially after two crashes of its 737 Max 8 jets and the blowout of a door plug during a 737 Max 9 flight this year to Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2024
Opponents called the legislation unconstitutional and would lead to racial profiling, separating children from parents and incur several millions of dollars in additional policing costs that the state can ill afford.
—CBS News, 4 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for ill afford
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ill afford.' 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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Cite this Entry
“Ill afford.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ill%20afford. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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