sickly

[sik-lee]

adjective

sicklier, sickliest 

1. not strong; unhealthy; ailing.

   Synonyms: infirm, feeble, sick, puny, weak, frail

2. of, connected with, or arising from ill health.

   a sickly complexion.

3. marked by the prevalence of ill health, as a region.

   the epidemic left the town sickly.

4. causing sickness.

5. nauseating.

6. maudlin and insipid; mawkish.

   sickly sentimentality.

7. faint or feeble, as light or color.

adverb

1. in a sick or sickly manner.

verb (used with object)

sicklied, sicklying 

1. to cover with a sickly hue.

sickly

/ ˈsɪklɪ /

adjective

1. disposed to frequent ailments; not healthy; weak

2. of, relating to, or caused by sickness

3. (of a smell, taste, etc) causing revulsion or nausea

4. (of light or colour) faint or feeble

5. mawkish; insipid

   sickly affectation

adverb

1. in a sick or sickly manner

Other Word Forms

• sickliness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sickly¹

1300–50; Middle English siklich, sekly (adj.). See sick ¹, -ly

Example Sentences

“But green is such a sickly shade. It makes my eyes look the color of seawater. Never mind, it is awful! Hand me another, please, Margaret.”

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Furthering the sickly mojo, Gustav wants to stage his version of the hanging in the very room where it happened.

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Smith was a sickly child, contracting bronchial pneumonia, tuberculosis, German measles, mumps and chicken pox which kept her in "periods of lengthy bed rest".

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While the series is very much up for grabs, Tuesday’s loss makes one thing very sickly certain.

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Esteemed horror veteran Mike Flanagan is an executive producer and you can sense Stuckmann grabbing aimlessly in the last third for the kind of sickly visual elegance that is Flanagan’s deliberative style.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ailing 
• cranky 
• feeble 
• infirm 
• lackluster