sickly

1 of 3

adjective

sick·​ly ˈsi-klē 

1

: somewhat unwell

also : habitually ailing

2

: produced by or associated with sickness

a sickly complexion

a sickly appetite

3

: producing or tending to produce disease : unwholesome

a sickly climate

4

a

: appearing as if sick

b

: lacking in vigor : weak

a sickly plant

5

: sickening

a sickly odor

sickliness noun

sickly

2 of 3

adverb

sicklier; sickliest

: in a manner indicating, causing, or suggestive of sickness

Walking blindly, every step making him sick with pain, he … covered his face as much as he could, and struggled sickly along.

—D. H. Lawrence

His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.

—Rick Riordan

—sometimes used figuratively

Nick was the perfect boy for me. We were that sickly-sweet couple who never fought.

—Sara Harari

sickly

3 of 3

verb

sicklied; sicklying; sicklies

transitive verb

: to make sick or sickly

Synonyms

Adjective

• ailing
• invalid
• weakly

Examples of sickly in a Sentence

Adjective

The walls were painted a sickly yellow.

The lamp gave off a sickly glow.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

But does that mean that vegans are going against human’s evolutionary history and are bound to be weak, sickly, and even stupid? —Marianne Krasny, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025

The collection of slab-like columns by Derek McLane, lit in sickly, sullen colors by Natasha Katz, could be anywhere. —Jesse Green, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025

Adverb

Travis and Maria Summers had been smelling the faint and sickly sweet odor of gas around their antebellum home in Lexington, Missouri, for hours on Wednesday afternoon when, around 7:30 p.m., Maria fell asleep in the living room while Travis watched TV. —Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2025

Rather than smelling sickly sweet, the scent is fresh and fruity, drying down to a smooth base of coconut milk and vanilla cream. —Venus Wong, refinery29.com, 31 Jan. 2025

Verb

And Jessie is stubbornly clinging to the only remedy that seems to help sickly Thomas at all: blood. —Kolbie Peterson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 Jan. 2022

There is something unsavory, even sickly about the artist, something not entirely on the side of life. —New York Times, 17 Sep. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1572, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1763, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sickly

• prickly
• quickly
• thickly

Kids Definition

sickly

adjective

sick·​ly

ˈsik-lē

sicklier; sickliest

1

: somewhat sick : often ailing

was sickly as a child

2

: caused by or associated with ill health

a sickly complexion

3

a

: tending to produce disease

a sickly climate

b

: appearing as if sick

a sickly flame

c

: not growing well :

a sickly plant

d

: sickening

a sickly odor

Medical Definition

sickly

adjective

sick·​ly ˈsik-lē 

1

: somewhat unwell

also : habitually ailing

a sickly child

2

: produced by or associated with sickness

a sickly complexion

3

: producing or tending to produce disease

a sickly climate

4

: tending to produce nausea

a sickly odor