sick
1 Americanadjective
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sicker,
comparative
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sickest
superlative
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affected with ill health, disease, or illness; ailing.
She was sick with the flu for two weeks.
- Synonyms:
- indisposed, infirm
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affected with nausea; inclined to vomit.
If you feel sick, take a few deep breaths and wait for the feeling to pass.
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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.
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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.
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dwelling on or obsessed with that which is gruesome, sadistic, ghoulish, or the like; morbid: sick jokes.
a sick comedian;
sick jokes.
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of, relating to, or for use during ill health.
He applied for sick benefits.
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accompanied by or suggestive of ill health; sickly.
a sick pallor;
the sick smell of disinfectant in the corridors.
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disgusted; chagrined.
Such blatant hypocrisy makes me sick.
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not in proper condition; impaired.
My car is sick and I'm afraid it's going to cost a lot of money to repair.
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The plot is boring but the special effects are sick!
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Agriculture.
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failing to sustain adequate harvests of some crop, usually specified.
a wheat-sick soil.
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containing harmful microorganisms.
a sick field.
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Now Rare: Sometimes Offensive. menstruating.
noun
idioms
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sick to one's stomach, nauseated.
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sick and tired, utterly weary; fed up.
I'm sick and tired of working so hard!
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sick as a dog. dog.
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sick at one's stomach, nauseated.
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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
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inclined or likely to vomit
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suffering from ill health
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( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the sick
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-
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of, relating to, or used by people who are unwell
sick benefits
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( in combination )
sickroom
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deeply affected with a mental or spiritual feeling akin to physical sickness
sick at heart
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mentally, psychologically, or spiritually disturbed
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informal delighting in or catering for the macabre or sadistic; morbid
sick humour
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Also: sick and tired. informal (often foll by of) disgusted or weary, esp because satiated
I am sick of his everlasting laughter
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(often foll by for) weary with longing; pining
I am sick for my own country
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pallid or sickly
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not in working order
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(of land) unfit for the adequate production of certain crops
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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:
Newspapers around the country featured his actions in defense of sick horses in New York, prompting allied organizations in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago to undertake similar campaigns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Bass had commented that the air wasn’t dangerous, despite residents reporting feeling sick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Moniava is also the founder of a charitable fund for sick children that until recently aided Ukrainian refugees in Russia.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
She said she had felt "sick" since the plans were announced, and was considering leaving the house she shared with her husband Jim, who died two years ago.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Many times he’d licked his mother’s muzzle to ask her please to sick up some food for him to eat, but she didn’t stir.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
These enrollees tend to be sicker and poorer than those on traditional Medicare.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
“But what they’re doing is also potentially making you sicker and sicker and sicker.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
When Michael Borg, town manager of North Attleborough, Mass., saw that its insurance costs had triggered a $1.8 million deficit, he assumed the town’s employees must be getting sicker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
But Rosie got sicker and a biopsy showed in 2024 that she did have terminal cancer.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
And so they got sicker, this time in the head.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
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
Some of the sickest burns on the internet right now are coming from French bureaucrats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
She sees the sickest children in Northern Ireland.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
On the podcast last week, Carr called Kimmel’s remarks about Kirk’s alleged shooter “some of the sickest conduct possible.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
By late evening, I was the sickest boy in those Ozark hills.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
