sick
sick Lexical Profile
sick Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Affected by physical or mental illness; unwell.
"She stayed home from school because she was feeling too sick to attend class."
Feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit.
"The rough waves on the ferry crossing made several passengers feel sick."
Thoroughly bored, annoyed, or frustrated by excessive exposure to something.
"We are thoroughly sick of listening to the same excuses every week."
(slang) Exceptionally cool, impressive, or admirable.
"The skateboarder landed a sick trick off the top rail at the competition."
Morbid, cruel, or offensively perverted in tone or character.
"Playing a prank on someone who just lost their job is a rather sick sense of humor."
• noun
People who are ill or unwell, considered collectively (usually preceded by 'the').
"The new community clinic was established to care for the sick and the elderly."
British (informal) Vomit; matter ejected from the stomach through the mouth.
"The nurse quickly cleaned up the sick from the hospital floor."
• verb
To set a dog or other animal upon someone to attack or pursue them (variant of 'sic').
"The landowner threatened to sick his hounds on anyone trespassing after dark."
British To vomit or bring up food from the stomach (usually followed by 'up').
"The baby sicked up most of the milk right onto his bib."
Word Nuance & Usage
In American English, 'sick' is used generally for any illness both attributively ('a sick child') and predicatively ('she is sick'), whereas in British English, 'ill' is generally preferred for being unwell, and 'to be sick' specifically means to vomit.
• Rhymes for sick
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English seoc, meaning 'ill, diseased, feeble, or deeply affected,' derived from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, which is cognate with Dutch ziek and German siech.