sickly Definition
sickly (sik′lē)
adjective -·lier, -·li·est
- in poor health; chronically sick or prone to sickness; not strong or robust
- of or produced by sickness a sickly pallor
- characterized by the prevalence of disease or sickness; unhealthful
- sickening; nauseating a sickly odor
- faint; feeble a sickly light
- weak; mawkish a sickly smile
Etymology: ME sekly
adverb -·lier, -·liest
in a sick manner
transitive verb -·lied, -·ly·ing
to make sickly, as in color
sickly Related Forms
sick′·li·ness noun
sickly Synonyms
sickly Usage Examples
Modifies a noun
- smell: I shall never forget the strong sickly smell of bodies which had been in the hot sun for a fortnight.
- grin: All I'm getting from Dave at the moment is a really sickly grin.
- smile: Bela Kun kept his big, round, puffy face well lowered; his sickly smile gradually faded away.
- son: Anthony Smith was the seemingly aloof uncle who moved the audience when he finally showed his love for his sickly son.
- baby: The house in Victoria Street where the sickly baby Lawrence was born.
- green: Last night, the ruins north of town started to glow a sickly green.
Modifying Another Word
- rather: One of the first things that Ragazzo noticed about the house in Coppice Row was the sweet rather sickly smell which hung over everything.
- too: Saturday December 18th I am feeling really well, not too sickly at all thank goodness!
- very: Our old cat had to be put to sleep earlier this year: it was very sickly.
- not: It's sweet, but not sickly and the youngest members of the family will love this comforting story.
- somewhat: The somewhat sickly smell of procrastination is in the air once again.
- little: Instead, they are light green in color, and appear a little sickly.
Browse dictionary entries near sickly
- ‹ sicklemia
- ‹ sicklebill
- ‹ sickle feather
- ‹ sickle cell trait
- ‹ sickle cell anemia
- ‹ sickle bar
- ‹ sickle
- ‹ sickish
- ‹ sickie
- ‹ Sickert
- sickness ›
- sicko ›
- sickout ›
- sickroom ›
- Siddhartha ›
- Siddons ›
- siddur ›
- side ›
- side arm ›
- side by side ›

