sick

SIK/sɪk/

Adjectivesicker, sickest

Verbsicks, sicking, sicked

12 meanings of sick

Practice

1
illadjective
Affected by an illness or otherwise in poor physical health.
Half the office was sick during flu season.
The sick child was kept home for a week to recover.
UsageYou are sick with an illness: sick with the flu. Set phrases: call in sick, sick leave; the sick means sick people.
Similarill, unwell, unhealthy, poorly, sickly
Oppositehealthy, well, fit
2
fed upadjective
Tired of or annoyed by something that has gone on too long.
Voters were sick of broken promises by election day.
He grew sick of the constant noise from the construction site.
UsageUsually sick of something, often with -ing: sick of waiting. Sick and tired of is stronger.
Similartired, weary, bored
3
nauseousadjective
Experiencing nausea or the urge to vomit.
The smell of gasoline always makes him sick.
Passengers grew sick as the ferry rocked in the heavy waves.
UsageFeel sick means you feel like vomiting; especially in British English, be sick often means to actually vomit: he was sick three times.
Similarnauseated, queasy
4
adjectivecolloquial
Morbid, twisted, or cruel in a shocking way: of a person, disturbed and seeming to enjoy cruelty; of humor or remarks, treating death or suffering in an offensive way.
The novel's villain is genuinely sick, delighting in the pain of others.
He must be sick to treat animals that way.
UsageCommon in a sick joke, a sick mind and sick humor.
Similartwisted, sadistic, warped, depraved, morbid
5
excellentadjectiveslang
Remarkably good; excellent or impressive.
The band's new album is absolutely sick.
He pulled off a sick move in the final seconds of the game.
UsageUsed mostly of things and performances: a sick trick, a sick set. Tone and context show it is praise.
Similarawesome, cool, excellent, brilliant, dope
Oppositeuncool, naff
Note
Slang approval turns the word inside out, so what would be an insult under the "twisted" meaning becomes praise. Wicked makes the same reversal, and rad sits beside both.
6
fall illverbdialectalintransitive
To fall ill; to begin to suffer from disease.
Our great-grandsire, Edward, sick'd and died.
c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth,. Epilogue.”
Old man to pickney, so wave unno hand if you with me /To see the sufferation sick me.
2005, Damian Marley, “Welcome to Jamrock”
Oppositerecover
Note
Shakespeare could write that Edward "sick'd and died" in The Second Part of Henry the Fourth. The verb has since dropped out of standard English and survives only in dialect. Damian Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock" (2005) shows one survival, turned around so the cause is the subject: in his line, hardship is what makes a person ill.
7
vomitverbcolloquialAustraliaBritishintransitive
To vomit; to expel the contents of the stomach through the mouth.
Several passengers began to sick up during the stormy crossing.
After the long, bumpy bus ride, my little brother sicked all over his new shoes.
UsageOften used with up: she sicked up after dinner. The past is regular: sicked.
Similarvomit, puke, spew
Note
The verb shares its territory with the noun for vomit: it is British and Australian, and colloquial. Its past is regular, as in waking at 4 a.m. and having sicked on the floor. That past form is spelled exactly like the dog-setting verb in the past, so only context sorts them out.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The verb meaning ‘vomit’ has the regular past form ‘sicked’. en.wiktionary.org
The dog-setting verb ‘sick’ also has the past form ‘sicked’. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

8
working badlyadjective
In poor condition; not functioning or performing properly.
The mechanic warned that the transmission was sick and needed replacing.
Trade slowed as the market looked increasingly sick.
Similarailing, faulty, shaky, unhealthy
Oppositehealthy, sound, robust
Note
Here the vocabulary of illness is lent to things that cannot be ill: a car, a market, someone's job prospects. It is also fixed in the compound sick building syndrome.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
‘Sick building syndrome’ is an established term. nhs.uk
9
vomited foodnouncolloquialAustraliaBritishuncountable
Vomit; matter expelled from the stomach through the mouth.
The smell of sick lingered in the train carriage all morning.
He wiped the sick off his shoes after the rough ferry crossing.
Similarvomit, puke
10
illness benefitnouncolloquialBritishuncountable
A state benefit or allowance paid by the government to support people who are ill, disabled, or unable to work.
After the diagnosis, he went on the sick for several months.
After his injury he went on the sick, but the payments barely cover his rent.
UsageMostly in go on the sick or be on the sick.
Note
Welfare talk in Britain uses the word almost only in set phrases: people go on the sick, are on the sick, or are on long-term sick. It names whatever the benefit happens to be called, current or former, so the casual label stays put while official schemes change.
11
worn-out soiladjective
Of soil or land, no longer able to sustain adequate harvests of a particular crop.
Decades of cotton left the soil sick and barely productive.
After decades of potatoes, the soil was so sick that new plants came up small and weak.
Similarexhausted, depleted, barren, infertile
Oppositefertile, productive, healthy
Note
A farmer's term that usually comes with a crop attached: land is sick for one particular crop rather than sick in general. The trouble typically follows from growing that crop again and again, through exhausted nutrients or a buildup of pests and diseases specific to it. The condition tends to last until the field is rotated or rested.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Repeated cultivation of the same crop can reduce yields through nutrient depletion and the buildup of crop-specific pests and pathogens. dspace.library.uu.nl
Crop rotation can relieve soil sickness that develops under continued cultivation of a crop. tandfonline.com
Resting the land by leaving it fallow is a recognized measure against soil sickness. wbnsou.ac.in
12
order to attackverbrare
Another spelling of sic: to make someone or something, especially a dog, attack or go after someone.
Guards would sick the dogs on anyone who climbed the fence.
"Wapi," she almost screamed, "go back! Sick 'em, Wapi—sick 'em—sick 'em—sick 'em!"
1920, James Oliver Curwood, Back to God's Country
UsageUsually sick a dog on someone, or in the shout sick 'em.
Note
The dog-handler's command has nothing to do with illness. It descends from seek, by way of sic. J. D. Salinger's Zooey (1957) stretches it to God, who sicks something on people.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The dog-command verb sick has a separate origin from the illness word: it is a variant of sic, derived from seek. en.wiktionary.org
J. D. Salinger wrote Zooey, which was first published in 1957. newyorker.com
Zooey contains a figurative use of sicks with God as its grammatical subject; Zooey is reporting Walt's theory. newyorker.com

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of sick apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–11

From Middle English sik, from Old English sēoc ("sick, ill"), going back to Proto-Germanic *seukaz; a link to a Proto-Indo-European root *sewg- ("to be troubled or grieved") has been proposed but is uncertain. The "very good, excellent" sense is a positive shift from the original "in poor health" meaning, similar to how terrific and wicked developed.

Meaning 12

A variant of sic, which itself was an alteration of seek.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Sick is a variant of sic. en.wiktionary.org
Sic is an alteration of seek. en.wiktionary.org