sickly
/ˈsɪkli/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.03 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Frequently ill or in poor health; weakly.
adj
Not in good health; (somewhat) sick.
adj
Characterized by poor or unhealthy growth. (of a plant)
adj
Associated with poor moral or mental well-being.
Example Sentences
- "a sickly child"
- "1759, Tobias Smollett, letter dated 16 March, 1759, in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, Volume 1, p. 190, … the boy is a sickly lad, of a delicate frame, and particularly subject to a malady in his throat, which renders him very unfit for his Majesty’s service."
- "She is unfortunately of a sickly constitution, which has prevented her making that progress in many accomplishments which she could not otherwise have failed of;"
- "[...] the sharp-scented bottle of crystals that sickly Cousin Bertha had carried to ward off fainting spells."
- "Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well, For he went sickly forth:"
- "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [i.e. have died]."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
sicklier (comparative)
sickliest (superlative)
sicklies (present, singular)
sicklying (participle, present)
sicklied (participle, past)
sicklied (past)
more sickly (comparative)
most sickly (superlative)