sickness
Americannoun
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a particular disease or malady.
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the state or an instance of being sick; illness.
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nausea; queasiness.
noun
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an illness or disease
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nausea or queasiness
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the state or an instance of being sick
Etymology
Origin of sickness
before 1000; Middle English siknesse, seknesse, Old English sēocnesse. See sick 1, -ness
Compare meaning
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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.
She is traveling by train to an unnamed city for a book festival, where she will be expected to speak with authority about the war—an assumed connection that fills her with sickness and shame.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
One version of the molecule helped treat morning sickness in pregnant women, while its mirror image caused serious birth defects.
From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2026
Those triumphs were not exactly foregone conclusions given the travel sickness Howe's team previously suffered with.
From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026
Still, here’s one that those with a propensity to motion sickness may want to take a pass on.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026
A wave of sickness overtook Seven, and she took in a deep breath of crisp, cold air to keep from being ill.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
