as in sick
temporarily suffering from a disorder of the body
her mother announced that she still looked peaky, and felt her forehead for a fever
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Recent Examples of peaky
The Fenomeno’s widened and lengthened body—when compared to the Revuelto—has been designed in a very graphical way, with fewer lines, broad shoulders and surfaces, a long tail, and a peaky front.
—
Brett Berk, Robb Report, 19 Aug. 2025
The curveball in all this is Verstappen, whose Red Bull future has become a significant talking point once again amid the team’s difficulties with a peaky car that will surely test his championship defense.
—Luke Smith, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025
In reality, though, because the TCL’s tone mapping is not as effective as that of the Samsung TV, the TCL’s brightness can cause clipping and leave the image looking ‘peaky’ and unbalanced.
—John Archer, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024
Local surf guides will take wave riders to fun, peaky beach breaks or barreling reefs.
—Noah Lederman, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2024
The powerband was peaky, with the turbos coming alive above 2500 rpm, accompanied by a distinct whistle.
—Brett Berk, Car and Driver, 4 Sep. 2023
Brett Berk, Robb Report, 19 Aug. 2025
The curveball in all this is Verstappen, whose Red Bull future has become a significant talking point once again amid the team’s difficulties with a peaky car that will surely test his championship defense.
—Luke Smith, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025
In reality, though, because the TCL’s tone mapping is not as effective as that of the Samsung TV, the TCL’s brightness can cause clipping and leave the image looking ‘peaky’ and unbalanced.
—John Archer, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024
Local surf guides will take wave riders to fun, peaky beach breaks or barreling reefs.
—Noah Lederman, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2024
The powerband was peaky, with the turbos coming alive above 2500 rpm, accompanied by a distinct whistle.
—Brett Berk, Car and Driver, 4 Sep. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peaky
Adjective
-
The longer the shutdown lasts, the greater the risk of cargo backups at these Texas ports due to unpaid employees calling in sick.—
The NPR Network,
NPR,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Officials advise against consuming meat from deer that appear sick or test positive for the disease.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
This involves having a poorly or non-functioning colon and is not usually reversible.—
Dr. John De Jong,
Boston Herald,
17 Aug. 2025
-
The researchers and their partners are also working to track local residents’ health and to measure how well or poorly interventions like masks and household air filters protected them.—
Maggie Astor,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Democrats are favored to win both gubernatorial races this year, so a GOP upset in either state would be a bad sign for the party currently locked out of power in Washington.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
2 Nov. 2025
-
Nick Saban certainly made more good decisions than bad ones during his run to seven national championships as a college football coach.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Two mentally ill guys just whaling on each other.—
Pat Saperstein,
Variety,
2 Nov. 2025
-
Smith noted that a current assumption in aging science is that if a person lives to be 80 years old, 60 of those years may be healthy, and the last 25% will be in relatively ill-health.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
After a couple of down years, blockbuster IPOs have come back this year.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
29 Oct. 2025
-
After a relatively down campaign for the Blue Jays in the regular season, Scherzer recaptured some of his old form in a strong outing against the Seattle Mariners in the American League Championship Series.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Peaky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peaky. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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