sickly

adjective
UK: /ˈsɪkli/
US: /ˈsɪkli/

  1. Often ill; not healthy or strong.

    1. The sickly child stayed home from school today because he had a fever.
    2. She had a sickly look after working long hours without enough rest for many days.

  2. Relating to or caused by disease.

    1. The doctor examined the patient's sickly skin rash carefully.
    2. The lab identified the sickly plant's disease and offered a solution to fix it.

  3. Unpleasantly sentimental.

    1. I found the movie's ending to be sickly and insincere.
    2. The sickly sweet poem was rejected by the literary magazine because it lacked depth.

Synonyms

unhealthy ailing frail feeble weak sentimental maudlin nauseating
sickly adverb

  1. In a way that suggests poor health or weakness.

    1. The plant grew sickly in the dark corner of the room.
    2. She smiled sickly, trying to hide her disappointment at the news of the competition.

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "sickly" in English means: Often ill; not healthy or strong., Relating to or caused by disease., Unpleasantly sentimental..

The phonetic transcription of "sickly" is /ˈsɪkli/ in British English and /ˈsɪkli/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "sickly": unhealthy, ailing, frail, feeble, weak, sentimental, maudlin, nauseating.

Example usage of "sickly": "The sickly child stayed home from school today because he had a fever.". More examples on the page.