SICKLY Synonyms: 59 Similar and Opposite Words

sickly

adjective

ˈsi-klē

Definition of sickly

as in frail

chronically or repeatedly suffering from poor health a sickly foal that seemed to catch everything that the other horses had

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of sickly Seeing her daughter in that state, babbling nonsense and barely able to stand, Letizia had goggled with the watery eyes of a sickly old lady. — Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2026 Work took place in the spring and early summer and the pool was refilled in June, but an algae bloom returned just days later, turning the pool a sickly green color. — Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026 In the heyday of her career, her choppy hair, flat chest, sickly pallor and large darting eyes were a manic pixie dream. — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 3 June 2026 The 2019 post on the notorious image board’s /x/ forum included a disquieting photo of an empty hallway bathed in sickly light. — Miles Klee, Wired News, 30 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for sickly

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sickly

Adjective

As a result, in Lourdes the question of respecting even the most frail, sick and vulnerable is particularly acute.

— Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
Footage from recent Beach Boys shows, though, had many concerned that Love was reaching Frankie Valli levels of uncanny due to a frail voice and appearance.

— Devon Ivie, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of frail

Adjective

With this potential even more poisonous investments in the bloated and indebted Paramount behemoth, there’s even more reason to reject it.

— Abigail Disney, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026
This can come with high levels of metals such as nickel and vanadium, which can damage engines, and sulfur, which can be poisonous to people.

— Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of poisonous

Adjective

As many have observed, and Republicans are somewhat ineffectually seeking to highlight, the post-Barack Obama Democratic Party has come to consist of little more than a toxic mixture of socialism, antisemitism and wokeness.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026
Several years later, DeLay was the force driving Clinton’s impeachment and was simply too toxic to seek the speaker’s chair.

— Michael Tarm, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of toxic

Adjective

Compiling and sharing data from large races can also help event organizers assess whether changes like earlier start times or alternate dates help reduce the number of people who get sick or hurt.

— STAT, STAT, 2 Oct. 2026
Add a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder, a loss, a lawsuit, a sick parent or a partner who travels, and the inventory stops being theoretical.

— Simbiat Adighije, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of sick

Adjective

Warnings of unhealthful air quality remained in effect Saturday across a wide swath of the United States due to smoke from Canadian wildfires that has engulfed the Northeast in haze for days.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2026
The soil may contain pathogens, pesticides and other unhealthful things.

— Joan Morris, Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2026

Definition of unhealthful

Adjective

Most franchise advertising does not fail because the brand is weak or the market is dry.

— Jonathan Durante, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Historically, midterm years see weaker returns, but better times await the following year , especially if there is gridlock from a divided Congress.

— Jim Cramer, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of weak

Adjective

Nike told Vogue Business that Hill, who became CEO in 2024, has cleaned up unhealthy inventory, reset the marketplace, and created more space for a new series of Nike performance products and innovation.

— Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
But that life was disrupted when her father took up a mistress and developed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, causing Barbara to move several times and board with neighbors before eventually settling into a two-room apartment with her mother.

— Genevieve Uzamere, PEOPLE, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of unhealthy

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sickliness

sickly

sickness

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“Sickly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sickly. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of sickly

adjective

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