Definitions and meaning of sick
sick
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: sĭk, IPA(key): /sɪk/
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- Homophones: sic, Sikh
- Rhymes: -ɪk
Etymology 1
From Middle English sik, sike, seek, seke, seok, from Old English sēoc (“sick, ill”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuk, from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sewg- (“to be troubled or grieved”).
See also West Frisian siik, Dutch ziek, German siech, Norwegian Bokmål syk, Norwegian Nynorsk sjuk, Danish syg; also Middle Irish socht (“silence, depression”), Old Armenian հիւծանիմ (hiwcanim, “I am weakening”).
The "very good, excellent" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "in poor health". Compare similar semantic development in terrific and wicked.
Adjective
sick (comparative sicker, superlative sickest)
- (less common in the UK and Ireland) In poor health; ill.
- Synonyms: ill, not well, poorly, sickly, unwell; see also Thesaurus:diseased
- Antonyms: fit, healthy, well
- Having an urge to vomit.
- Synonyms: nauseated; see also Thesaurus:nauseated
- (colloquial) Mentally unstable, disturbed.
- Synonyms: disturbed, twisted, warped
- (colloquial) In bad taste.
- Tired of or annoyed by something [with of].
- (slang) Very good, excellent, awesome, badass.
- Synonyms: rad, wicked; see also Thesaurus:excellent
- Antonyms: crap, naff, uncool
- In poor condition.
- (agriculture) Failing to sustain adequate harvests of crop, usually specified.
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Dutch: sick
- →? Navajo: sxih
Translations
Noun
sick (uncountable)
- (British, Australia, colloquial) Vomit.
- (British, colloquial) (especially in the phrases on the sick and on long-term sick) Any of various current or former benefits or allowances paid by the Government to support the sick, disabled or incapacitated.
Synonyms
- (vomit): See Thesaurus:vomit
Derived terms
- (ill): sickie a day of sick leave, often implying some level of deceit as in "throw a sickie" - take a day's sick leave for some other purpose. go down like a cup of cold sick / go down like a cup of sick
Translations
Verb
sick (third-person singular simple present sicks, present participle sicking, simple past and past participle sicked)
- (British, Australia, colloquial) To vomit.
- (obsolete except in dialect, intransitive) To fall sick; to sicken.
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Variant of sic, itself an alteration of seek.
Verb
sick (third-person singular simple present sicks, present participle sicking, simple past and past participle sicked)
- (rare) Alternative spelling of sic (“set upon”).
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- 1957, J. D. Salinger, "Zooey", in, 1961, Franny and Zooey, 1991 LB Books edition, page 154,
- "...is just something God sicks on people who have the gall to accuse Him of having created an ugly world."
- 2001 (publication date), Anna Heilman, Never Far Away: The Auschwitz Chronicles of Anna Heilman, University of Calgary Press, →ISBN, page 82,
- Now they find a new entertainment: they sick the dog on us.
Anagrams
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from English sick. Doublet of ziek.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɪk/
-
- Rhymes: -ɪk
- Homophone: sik
Adjective
sick (comparative sicker, superlative sickst)
- (slang) sick (amazing, awesome, excellent)
- Synonyms: vet, ziek
- Hij heeft laatst een sicke LP uitgebracht. ― He recently released a sick LP.
- Dat was één van de sickste ervaringen van mijn leven. ― That was one of the awesomest experiences of my life.
Declension
Middle English
Adjective
sick
- alternative form of sik
Source: wiktionary.org