sickly

Meanings

Adjective

• Frequently ill or in poor health.
• Not in good health; (somewhat) sick.
• (of a plant) Characterized by poor or unhealthy growth.
• Appearing ill, infirm or unhealthy; giving the appearance of illness.
• Shedding a relatively small amount of light; (of light) not very bright.
• Lacking intensity or vigour.
• Associated with poor moral or mental well-being.
• Tending to produce nausea.
• Overly sweet.
• Marked by the occurrence of illness or disease (of a period of time).
• Tending to produce disease or poor health.

Verb

• To make (something) sickly.
• To become sickly.

Adverb

• In a sick manner; in a way that reflects or causes sickness.

Origin

• From Middle English seekly, sekely, siklich, sekeliche, equivalent to sick + -ly. Possibly a modification of Old English sīcle and/or derived from Old Norse sjúkligr. Cognate with Dutch ziekelijk, Middle High German siechlich, Danish sygelig, Swedish sjuklig, Icelandic sjúklegur.