sicken
Americanverb
-
to make or become sick, nauseated, or disgusted
-
to show symptoms (of an illness)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sickensimple
-
sickenssimple
-
have sickenedperfect
-
has sickenedperfect
-
am sickeningprogressive
-
are sickeningprogressive
-
is sickeningprogressive
-
have been sickeningperfect progressive
-
has been sickeningperfect progressive
Past
-
sickenedsimple
-
had sickenedperfect
-
was sickeningprogressive
-
were sickeningprogressive
-
had been sickeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sicken
1150–1200; Middle English seknen, sicnen; cognate with Old Norse sjūkna. See sick 1, -en 1
Explanation
Things that sicken you make you feel upset or ill. It might sicken you to realize that you've hit a squirrel with your car. When things sicken you, they either make you feel terrible — disgusted or horrified — or they make you physically sick. Eating a piece of moldy bread or some potato salad that's been sitting in the sun too long will probably sicken you. Reading a story about childhood hunger and poverty in the newspaper can also sicken you. The earliest meaning of sicken was "fall ill," from an Old English root, seoc, "ill, diseased, weak, or troubled."
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.
See Examples For:
The problem with this line is that unvaccinated children can sicken infants and immuno-compromised children who can’t be inoculated, leaving some disabled or worse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
Microplastics, along with ultra-tiny nanoplastics, can kill or severely sicken marine life before entering the food web and ultimately ending up on our plates.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
Scotland driving at Greece's heart in a bid to sicken them again after sickening them at Hampden earlier in the group.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2025
“Even without a H5N1 outbreak in cows, raw milk is not safe because of bacteria that can severely sicken people,” Jetelina said.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2024
People especially steered their babies away from Cleofes, afraid that if he admired the kids or tickled them under their fat chins, the children would sicken and grow humps.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Influenza, or flu, sickens millions of people across the globe each year and can lead to severe illness and death.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 1, 2024
Caerphilly Bird Rescue posted a comment about the video, saying it "sickens me to the stomach".
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2023
‘I felt like I was robbed of time with my best friend. It just sickens me.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
And that are media continues to ignore/dismiss a very obvious reality sickens me.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2023
“The sight of a wound or scar always agitates and sickens me,” she said.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
In last Friday’s newsletter, we told you about a foodborne parasitic outbreak that has sickened thousands of people across several states.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday it’s looking into another cyclosporiasis outbreak, the second cluster this summer, that’s sickened at least 72 people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The outbreak has sickened at least 6,700 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Thousands of people have been sickened across five states.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
I told Luzan what I could; for years I felt disordered by it, sickened, until I released the secret to him.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Market volatility has erased some funds’ value with sickening speed—most famously 2018’s “Volmageddon.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
English gymnast Gabriel Langton has been cleared of serious injury after a sickening fall at the Commonwealth Games on Friday.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident "horrific" and "sickening" in a post on X.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
By sickening contrast, Nadja Spiegelman, an editor at the Times, and Jia Tolentino, a writer for the New Yorker, giggled their way through an interview with Mr. Piker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
And as sobriety creeped up on him, the sickening feeling of betrayal returned.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
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.
