Definition of SICKLY

sickly

Adjective Satellite

  • unhealthy looking
  • somewhat ill or prone to illness
    • "a sickly child"

Adj

  • Frequently ill or in poor health; weakly.
  • Not in good health; (somewhat) sick.
  • Characterized by poor or unhealthy growth. (of a plant)
  • 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

Verb Forms: sicklied, sicklying, sicklies

  • To make or cause to appear sickly or unhealthy.
  • To make (something) sickly.
  • To become sickly.

Adv

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

Adjective

  • Appearing ill or unhealthy; prone to illness.

Examples

  • a sickly autumn; a sickly climate
  • a sickly child
  • a sickly pallor
  • a sickly smell; sickly sentimentality
  • a sickly smile
  • A string of bad tile draws can sickly one’s hopes for a high score in Scrabble.
  • His rack looked sickly, filled with low-value, unconnected letters in Words With Friends.
  • sickly pale; to cough sickly

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English seekly, sekely, siklich, sekeliche, equivalent to sick + -ly. Possibly a modification of Old English sīcle (“sickly”) and/or derived from Old Norse sjúkligr (“sickly”). Cognate with Dutch ziekelijk, Middle High German siechlich, Danish sygelig, Swedish sjuklig, Icelandic sjúklegur. The verb is from the adjective.

Scrabble Score: 15

sickly: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
sickly: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
sickly: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

sickly: valid Words With Friends Word