sickening

[sik-uh-ning]

See more synonyms for sickening on Thesaurus.com

adjective

causing or capable of causing sickness, especially nausea, disgust, or loathing: sickening arrogance.

Origin of sickening

First recorded in 1715–25; sicken + -ing²

Related formssick·en·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms

See more synonyms for sickening on Thesaurus.com

nauseating, disgusting, loathsome.

sicken

[sik-uh n]

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become sick.

Origin of sicken

1150–1200; Middle English seknen, sicnen; cognate with Old Norse sjūkna. See sick¹, -en¹

Related formsre·sick·en, verbun·sick·ened, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for sicken on Thesaurus.com

repulse, revolt, disgust, upset.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sickening

Contemporary Examples

Hot orange flames leap into the sky bringing with them the sickening, inescapable stench of death.
Rage Against the Ebola Crematorium
Abby Haglage
November 11, 2014
Lack of elaboration is a virus that continually infects the book, sometimes having a sickening effect on the reader.
Cornel West’s Disappointing Decline
David Masciotra
October 23, 2014
By then he was blue in the face, a sickening color, like an old hematoma.
Real Life Lazarus: When Patients Rise From the Dead
Sandeep Jauhar
August 21, 2014
They absolutely must boycott this absurd, insane, sickening, repulsive, shameful, and at the same time shame-less circus.
The B Is Back: The Benghazi Hearings Are Bullsh*t
Michael Tomasky
May 7, 2014
As Gawain rides along the bank of a creek, he hears this sickening sound ringing from above.
Historical Fiction: A Conversation Between Bruce Holsinger and Nancy Bilyeau
Nancy Bilyeau, Bruce Holsinger
March 30, 2014

Historical Examples

When I last wrote, on the Somme in 1915, I was sickening with typhoid fever.
Ballads of a Bohemian
Robert W. Service
A sickening conviction came that it was the dreaded influenza.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
I had read the "Extra," with all its sickening details, and so handed it back to him.
The Underdog
F. Hopkinson Smith
It was sickening to see, because I knew what was going to happen.
American Notes
Rudyard Kipling
Such symptoms, when a disease of the kind is rife, are usually the signs of sickening.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for sickening

sickening

adjective

causing sickness or revulsion
informal extremely annoying

Derived Formssickeningly, adverb

sicken

verb

to make or become sick, nauseated, or disgusted
(intr often foll by for) to show symptoms (of an illness)

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

Word Origin and History for sickening

adj.

"falling sick," 1725; "causing revulsion, disgust, or nausea," 1789, present participle adjective from sicken. Related: Sickeningly.

sicken

v.

c.1200, "to become ill," from sick (adj.) + -en (1). Transitive sense of "to make sick" is recorded from 1610s. Related: Sickened; sickening. The earlier verb was simply sick (Old English seocan) "to be ill, fall ill."

sickening

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}sickening

Synonyms

sicken

Origin of sicken

Synonyms

Examples from the Web for sickening

Contemporary Examples

Hot orange flames leap into the sky bringing with them the sickening, inescapable stench of death.

Lack of elaboration is a virus that continually infects the book, sometimes having a sickening effect on the reader.

By then he was blue in the face, a sickening color, like an old hematoma.

They absolutely must boycott this absurd, insane, sickening, repulsive, shameful, and at the same time shame-less circus.

As Gawain rides along the bank of a creek, he hears this sickening sound ringing from above.

Historical Examples

When I last wrote, on the Somme in 1915, I was sickening with typhoid fever.

A sickening conviction came that it was the dreaded influenza.

I had read the "Extra," with all its sickening details, and so handed it back to him.

It was sickening to see, because I knew what was going to happen.

Such symptoms, when a disease of the kind is rife, are usually the signs of sickening.

sickening

sicken

Word Origin and History for sickening

adj.

sicken

v.

Origin of sickening