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sick

adjective · verb · noun

Simple meaning

Having an urge to vomit.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

sik
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Having an urge to vomit.

  2. slang

    Very good, excellent, awesome, badass.

  3. Tired of or annoyed by something [with of].

  4. In poor condition.

  5. colloquial

    Mentally unstable, disturbed.

  6. colloquial

    In bad taste.

verb

  1. BritishAustraliacolloquial

    To vomit.

noun

  1. britishcolloquialespecially 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.

  2. BritishAustraliacolloquial

    Vomit.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Having an urge to vomit.

Used this way, sick is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use sick

  • “They devote their lives to caring for the sick.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

sick personsick rolesick childsick woman

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • sicknessnounDerived noun · specialist

    Impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • sick paradenounCompound term

    The daily military formation at which individuals report to the medical officer as sick.

  • sick paynounCompound term

    Wages paid to an employee who is on sick leave.

  • sick personnounCompound term

    A person suffering from an illness.

  • sick headachenounCompound term

    A headache accompanied by nausea.

  • sick callnounCompound term

    The daily military formation at which individuals report to the medical officer as sick.

  • sick berthnounCompound term

    A room for the treatment of the sick or injured (as on a ship).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: having an urge to vomit

ill

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.