sick
1affected with ill health, disease, or illness; ailing.
affected with nausea; inclined to vomit.
deeply affected with some unpleasant feeling, as of sorrow, disgust, or boredom: sick at heart; to be sick of parties.
mentally, morally, or emotionally deranged, corrupt, or unsound: a sick mind; wild statements that made him seem sick.
characteristic of a sick mind: sick fancies.
dwelling on or obsessed with that which is gruesome, sadistic, ghoulish, or the like; morbid: a sick comedian;sick jokes.
of, relating to, or for use during sickness: He applied for sick benefits.
accompanied by or suggestive of sickness; sickly: a sick pallor;the sick smell of disinfectant in the corridors.
disgusted; chagrined.
not in proper condition; impaired.
Agriculture.
failing to sustain adequate harvests of some crop, usually specified: a wheat-sick soil.
containing harmful microorganisms: a sick field.
Now Rare. menstruating.
sick persons collectively.
Idioms about sick
call in sick, to notify one's place of employment by telephone that one will be absent from work because of being ill.
sick and tired, utterly weary; fed up: I'm sick and tired of working so hard!
sick at one's stomach, Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. nauseated.
sick to one's stomach, Chiefly Northern, North Midland, and Western U.S. nauseated.
Origin of sick
1synonym study For sick
Other words for sick
Opposites for sick
Words Nearby sick
Other definitions for sick (2 of 2)
sic1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use sick in a sentence
We don’t want to see our clients get sick or die in prison, totally cut off from their loved ones.
Federal Jail Downtown Now Has One of the Country’s Worst COVID Outbreaks | Maya Srikrishnan | September 10, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoMany students worry about family or friends who may get sick, Sana notes.
Top 10 tips on how to study smarter, not longer | Kathiann Kowalski | September 9, 2020 | Science News For StudentsShe said that it’s too early to determine the sick participant’s specific diagnosis.
Some scientists downplay significance of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial halt | Claire Zillman, reporter | September 9, 2020 | FortuneThat, in turn, cuts the risk someone will encounter enough virus to make them sick.
Here’s how COVID-19 is changing classes this year | Bethany Brookshire | September 8, 2020 | Science News For StudentsAnd, he said, the tests can act as an early warning system by alerting officials that people in a community like a dorm are infected a week before they might become sick enough to seek tests on their own.
A New Kind of College Exam: UCSD Is Testing Sewage for COVID-19 | Randy Dotinga | September 7, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
And not just sick in the body but in your mind, because you start obsessing.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze | Lizzie Crocker | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTI was sick in street gutters, onto my desk, at dinners with friends.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 | Vicky Ward | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWe are the sick ones who torment trans people every day of their lives.
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism | Arthur Chu | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTIs there any chance the potential 2016 hopeful will stand up to the right and embrace paid sick leave?
It happens, of course, but the less time a person is sick, the better their chances of recovery.
The Duchess had also a tent for their sick men; so that we had a small town of our own here, and every body employed.
I suppose he is sick of the sound of them, or perhaps it is because he feels obliged to be conscientious in teaching Beethoven!
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayAfter the battle of the Pyramids he fell sick, and before the Syrian expedition, applied to return to France.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonSo we placed some of these holy relics upon the sick man, at the same time offering our vows for him, and then he improved.
One was to the deanship, of Santiago de Castro, a sick man who has not left his house for more than three years.
British Dictionary definitions for sick (1 of 2)
/ (sɪk) /
inclined or likely to vomit
suffering from ill health
(as collective noun; preceded by the): the sick
of, relating to, or used by people who are unwell: sick benefits
(in combination): sickroom
deeply affected with a mental or spiritual feeling akin to physical sickness: sick at heart
mentally, psychologically, or spiritually disturbed
informal delighting in or catering for the macabre or sadistic; morbid: sick humour
Also: sick and tired (often foll by of) informal disgusted or weary, esp because satiated: I am sick of his everlasting laughter
(often foll by for) weary with longing; pining: I am sick for my own country
pallid or sickly
not in working order
(of land) unfit for the adequate production of certain crops
look sick slang to be outclassed
an informal word for vomit
Origin of sick
1- See also sick-out
Derived forms of sick
- sickish, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for sick (2 of 2)
/ (sɪk) /
a variant spelling of sic 2
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with sick
In addition to the idioms beginning with sick
- sick and tired
- sick as a dog
- sick at heart
- sick in bed
- sick joke
- sick to one's stomach
also see:
- call in sick
- get sick
- make one sick
- worried sick
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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