adj
sickly
SIHK-lee
adj
1
Frequently ill, or generally weak and unhealthy.
"As a child he was sickly and missed a lot of school."
2
Producing a slight feeling of nausea, especially through excessive sweetness.
"The cake had a sickly, over-sweet icing."
"A sickly smell of rotting fruit hung in the kitchen."
3
Dim or weak, describing light or colour.
"A sickly yellow glow came from the old streetlamp."
How to Use Sickly
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishWeak and prone to illness, or unpleasantly over-sweet or faint.
Common pairings
sickly child
sickly sweet
sickly pallor
Word Forms
sicklier comparative, more sickly comparative, sicklied past tense, sicklies singular, sickliest superlative, most sickly superlative
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “sickly”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
As a child he was _____ and missed a lot of school.
Etymology
From Middle English sekely, built from "sick" plus "-ly".