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sick1

Pronunciation: /sɪk/

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Definition of sick

adjective

  • 1affected by physical or mental illness:nursing very sick children half my staff were off sick (as plural noun the sick)visiting the sick and the elderly
  • relating to those who are ill:the company organized a sick fund for its workers
  • (of an organization, system, or society) suffering from serious problems:the British economy remains sick
  • 2 [predic.] feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit:he was starting to feel sick Mark felt sick with fear
  • [attributive] (of an emotion) so intense as to cause one to feel unwell or nauseous:he had a sick fear of returning
  • informal disappointed, mortified, or miserable:he looked pretty sick at that, but he eventually agreed
  • archaic pining or longing for someone or something:he was sick for a sight of her
  • 3 (sick of) intensely annoyed with or bored by (someone or something) as a result of having had too much of them:I’m absolutely sick of your moods
  • 4 informal (especially of humour) having something unpleasant such as death or misfortune as its subject and dealing with it in an offensive way:this was someone’s idea of a sick joke
  • (of a person) having abnormal or unnatural tendencies; perverted:he is a deeply sick man from whom society needs to be protected
  • 5 informal excellent.

noun

[mass noun] British informal
  • vomit: she was busy wiping sick from the carpet

verb

[with object] (sick something up) British informal
  • bring something up by vomiting: he was passing blood and sicking it up [no object]:she sicked up all over the carpet

Phrases

be sick

  • 1be ill.
  • 2British vomit: the baby was sick all over my silk shirt

get sick

  • 1be ill.
  • 2North American vomit.

make someone sick

cause someone to vomit or feel nauseous or unwell: sherry makes me sick and so do cigars
cause someone to feel intense annoyance or disgust:you’re so damned self-righteous you make me sick!

—— oneself sick

do something to such an extent that one feels nauseous or unwell (often used for emphasis):she was worrying herself sick about Mike

on the sick

British informal receiving sickness benefit.

sick and tired of

informal annoyed about or bored with (someone or something) and unwilling to put up with them any longer:I am sick and tired of all the criticism

(as) sick as a dog

informal extremely ill: you were as sick as a dog when you ate those shrimps

(as) sick as a parrot

British informal extremely disappointed: if I was to break my leg tomorrow I’d be as sick as a parrot

the sick man of ——

a country that is politically or economically unsound, especially in comparison with its neighbours:the country had been the sick man of Europe for too long
[applied in the late 19th century to the Sultan of Turkey, later extended to Turkey and other countries]

sick to death of

informalanother way of saying sick and tired of above.

sick to one's stomach

nauseous.
disgusted: I felt sick to my stomach reading that filth

Derivatives

sickish

adjective

Origin:

Old English sēoc 'affected by illness', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch ziek and German siech

sick in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sick in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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