sickly
Meaning
-
- Frequently ill or in poor health.
- Not in good health; (somewhat) sick.
- Characterized by poor or unhealthy growth. (of a plant)
- Appearing ill, infirm or unhealthy; giving the appearance of illness.
- Shedding a relatively small amount of light; (of light) not very bright.
- Lacking intensity or vigour.
- Associated with poor moral or mental well-being.
- Tending to produce nausea.
- Overly sweet.
- (obsolete) Marked by the occurrence of illness or disease (of a period of time).
- (obsolete) Tending to produce disease or poor health.
Synonyms
in poor health
delicate constitution
lean and weak
thin and feeble
wearish
unhealthy-looking
out-of-sorts
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈsɪkli/
Etymology
In summary
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.
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Notes
