1
as in frail
chronically or repeatedly suffering from poor health
a sickly foal that seemed to catch everything that the other horses had
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in poisonous
bad for the well-being of the body
lungs scarred by years of exposure to the sickly air of the coal mines
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sickly
There are so many stereotypes and stigmas about what a cancer patient looks like—bald, weak, sickly.
—
Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 May 2025
The lunchtime sun was bright, tinting everything in a sickly golden tone.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025
Consider his painting Inheritance (1897-99), which depicts a coughing mother holding a sickly newborn.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 July 2025
Jessica leaves her apartment and tells him to get his stuff out by the end of the day, during which her sickly dog dies.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sickly
Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 May 2025
The lunchtime sun was bright, tinting everything in a sickly golden tone.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025
Consider his painting Inheritance (1897-99), which depicts a coughing mother holding a sickly newborn.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 July 2025
Jessica leaves her apartment and tells him to get his stuff out by the end of the day, during which her sickly dog dies.
—Selome Hailu, Variety, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sickly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sickly
Adjective
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Healthy aging and walking Whether or not an older adult is frail, mobility is still an important part of healthy aging.—
Gina Park,
CNN Money,
16 July 2025
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Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause severe and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail and elderly people, as well as those with a weakened immune system.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
18 July 2025
Adjective
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If touched, the toad’s poisonous glands emit toxins that can be rapidly absorbed in your dog’s bloodstream and kill her quickly.—
Lois K. Solomon,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Aug. 2025
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While every season is different depending on the location, some of the past challenges have included walking across a tightrope over a cliff, rescuing themselves from a sinking car and invading a crate filled with poisonous gases and chemicals.—
Caroline Blair,
People.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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At the same time, Jota’s death has brought certain things into sharp context, about how fragile life — and within that, something like a football career — can be.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
14 Aug. 2025
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These species play a crucial role in maintaining balance within the fragile ecosystem.—
Lauren Liebhaber,
Miami Herald,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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This is significant because melittin alone is highly toxic and can damage healthy tissues if not carefully controlled.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Aug. 2025
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Beam and his attorneys allege the same toxic culture at California State Prison in Sacramento, widely known as New Folsom, where the two deceased CDCR officers worked is present at other state prisons.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Prater has a sick fascination with serial killers, collecting their trophies and even inviting the most notorious of them to gatherings at his mansion.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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Today’s daily brief features the Texas governor ordering the arrest and expulsion of fleeing lawmakers, a video on the NYT weaponizing a sick toddler amid the starvation crisis in Gaza, and Israel is considering a plan to expand the war in Gaza.—
Armstrong Williams,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The change comes amid concerns about fireworks causing unhealthful air.—
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
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The unhealthful effects of autocracy remain robust even when accounting for economic differences and when excluding Venezuela and its collapsing health-care system.—
Thomas J. Bollyky,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Jan. 2020
Adjective
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And if tariffs only cause a one-time jump in prices, weaker purchasing power could slow the economy.—
Raul Elizalde,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
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Despite these efforts, economic conditions and weak demand for domestic leisure travel pose challenges.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Borgman chronicles how the show focused on entertainment over health and how contestants were belittled and encouraged to follow unhealthy weight loss methods, including consuming caffeine pills.—
Addie Morfoot,
Variety,
15 Aug. 2025
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In particular, lawsuits have alleged that child users with developmental disabilities and mental health issues have formed unhealthy attachments to chatbots that have influenced the children to become violent, begin self-harming, or, in one disturbing case, die by suicide.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
14 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sickly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sickly. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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