sick
- 1Not feeling well because of an illness or disease.
Like a car that runs poorly because something inside is broken.
She felt sick and stayed home from school.
He has been sick with the flu all week.
UsageSay sick with the flu. You call in sick when you cannot go to work.
- 2
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- 4Cruel, twisted, or shocking. Used of people with disturbing minds, or jokes about death or suffering that offend.
Only a sick mind could plan something so cruel.
The detective said the crime was the work of someone sick.
UsagePeople say a sick joke or a sick mind.
- 5
- 6To start to become ill.
Our great-grandsire, Edward, sick'd and died.
c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth,. Epilogue.”Here, sick'd means fell ill.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
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Less common meanings
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- 10Money the government pays to people who are too ill to work.
He has been on the sick since his accident at work.
He hurt his back at work and has been on the sick for a year.
UsageSay someone is on the sick.
Note
- 11Of soil or land, no longer able to grow healthy crops.
Like a garden patch that stops growing anything after being used too much.
The field had grown sick after years of the same crop.
Farmers left the sick land to rest for a season.
Similarexhausted, depleted, barren, infertile
Oppositefertile, productive, healthy
Note
- 12Alternative spelling of sic. Use this when telling a dog or person to attack someone.
Be careful, or she'll sick the dog on you.
"Wapi," she almost screamed, "go back! Sick 'em, Wapi—sick 'em—sick 'em—sick 'em!"
1920, James Oliver Curwood, Back to God's CountryHere, Sick is the same as sic, a command telling a dog to attack.UsageSay sick the dog on someone.
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Old English sēoc, meaning "sick" or "ill". The slang "excellent" sense came later from the original "in poor health" meaning.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Sick descends from Old English sēoc, meaning sick or ill. en.wiktionary.org
- The slang excellent sense developed later from the original poor-health sense. en.wiktionary.org
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