sick
1 Americanadjective
-
sicker,
comparative
-
sickest
superlative
-
affected with ill health, disease, or illness; ailing.
She was sick with the flu for two weeks.
- Synonyms:
- indisposed, infirm
-
affected with nausea; inclined to vomit.
If you feel sick, take a few deep breaths and wait for the feeling to pass.
-
deeply affected with some unpleasant feeling, as of sorrow, disgust, or boredom.
The suffering and torments of the wounded make me sick at heart.
I never thought it would happen, but after two years of college I'm sick of parties.
-
mentally, morally, or emotionally deranged, corrupt, or unsound.
Only someone with a sick mind would suggest such an immoral scheme.
He made wild statements that made him seem sick.
-
dwelling on or obsessed with that which is gruesome, sadistic, ghoulish, or the like; morbid: sick jokes.
a sick comedian;
sick jokes.
-
of, relating to, or for use during ill health.
He applied for sick benefits.
-
accompanied by or suggestive of ill health; sickly.
a sick pallor;
the sick smell of disinfectant in the corridors.
-
disgusted; chagrined.
Such blatant hypocrisy makes me sick.
-
not in proper condition; impaired.
My car is sick and I'm afraid it's going to cost a lot of money to repair.
-
The plot is boring but the special effects are sick!
-
Agriculture.
-
failing to sustain adequate harvests of some crop, usually specified.
a wheat-sick soil.
-
containing harmful microorganisms.
a sick field.
-
-
Now Rare: Sometimes Offensive. menstruating.
noun
idioms
-
sick to one's stomach, nauseated.
-
sick and tired, utterly weary; fed up.
I'm sick and tired of working so hard!
-
sick as a dog. dog.
-
sick at one's stomach, nauseated.
-
call in sick, to notify one's place of employment that one will be absent from work because of illness.
I'd rather not call in sick tomorrow, but I'm not sure I can drive like this.
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
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. informal (often foll by of) 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
-
slang to be outclassed
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See ill.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sick
First recorded before 900; Middle English sek, sik, Old English sēoc; cognate with Dutch ziek, German siech, Old Norse sjūkr, Gothic siuks
Explanation
Sick describes someone who's not well, suffering from some kind of illness. You shouldn't go to school when you're sick. If you're sick in bed, you're ill. While sick usually refers to people with physical or mental illnesses, it can also be used to describe an object or system that isn't working right, like a sick economy. Sick can also mean that you're tired of something, like a song you have heard too many times — you're sick of it. Sick is also slang used to describe something that is visually impressive, like a sick hockey goal.
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 tight schedule forced Stallone to work even when he was sick and hurt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
“How do you notice that you’re sick, when your noticer itself is sick?” he asks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
“I’m just sick of the people he stands with,” Stevens told Anderson Cooper on CNN on Sunday night.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
Hibs folk will be sick of hearing the chat about the freakish Tynecastle casualty list - Wouter Vrancken isn't exactly loving it either - but it's reality.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
My stomach began to roll now, and I thought I was going to be sick all over the place.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
As a result, many healthy people drop coverage, leaving the enrollee pool sicker and pushing premiums even higher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
Raad was the sicker of the two - his ribs visible and his chest heaving as he took rapid, shallow breaths.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
“I was getting sicker and sicker,” he told People.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
These enrollees tend to be sicker and poorer than those on traditional Medicare.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Meanwhile, Lizzie—who’d once possessed the same energy and stubborn determination as Mollie—had grown sicker.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
It siphons resources away from the sickest, encourages overmedication and medicalizes normal variants of human distress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Some dissuaded even the sickest patients from taking medication.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
To be in a cosy rut is about the sickest thing ever, I think.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Those potential costs led many state Medicaid programs and some health plans to restrict coverage of the drug to the sickest patients.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
“We’re the sickest rapping duo in Wales,” Worm said.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
