Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Sickly

//ˈsɪkli// adj, adv, verb

Definitions

Adjective

1
Frequently ill or in poor health; weakly.
"a sickly child"
2
Not in good health; (somewhat) sick.
"Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well, For he went sickly forth:"
3
Characterized by poor or unhealthy growth. (of a plant)
"[...] the good wheat on this land had turned sickly and yellow."
4
Appearing ill, infirm or unhealthy; giving the appearance of illness.
"a sickly pallor"
5
Shedding a relatively small amount of light; (of light) not very bright.
"The Moon grows sickly at the sight of day."

Show 6 more definitions

6
Lacking intensity or vigour.
"a sickly smile"
7
Associated with poor moral or mental well-being.
"The slightest distress, whether real or fictitious, touched him to the quick, and his soul laboured under a sickly sensibility of the miseries of others."
8
Tending to produce nausea.
"a sickly smell; sickly sentimentality"
9
Overly sweet.
"[…] he was again tasting the sickly welter of melted ice cream on his plate."
10
Marked by the occurrence of illness or disease (of a period of time). obsolete
"This physic but prolongs thy sickly days."
11
Tending to produce disease or poor health. obsolete
"a sickly autumn; a sickly climate"

Adjective

1
unhealthy looking wordnet
2
somewhat ill or prone to illness wordnet

Adverb

1
In a sick manner; in a way that reflects or causes sickness.
"sickly pale; to cough sickly"

Verb

1
To make (something) sickly. archaic, literary, transitive
"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,"
2
To become sickly. intransitive, rare
"1889, Samuel Cox, An Expositor’s Notebook, London: Richard D. Dickinson, 7th edition, Chapter 26, p. 364, But the seven most prominent Apostles […] still hang together, their hearts tormented with eager yet sad questionings, their hopes fast sicklying over with the pale hues of doubt."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English seekly, sekely, siklich, sekeliche, equivalent to sick + -ly. Possibly a modification of Old English sīcle (“sickly”) and/or derived from Old Norse sjúkligr (“sickly”). Cognate with Dutch ziekelijk, Middle High German siechlich, Danish sygelig, Swedish sjuklig, Icelandic sjúklegur. The verb is from the adjective.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

From sick + -ly.

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: sickly